Department for Transport

Bridges: North West

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria the Government is using to determine which people and residents of which areas will be eligible for discounts on tolls for the Mersey Gateway bridge.

Andrew Jones: The original toll discount scheme covering residents of Halton was developed by the scheme’s promoters, Halton Borough Council. Following the Chancellor’s statement in 2014 this is to be extended to cover all residents. Further details can be found at:http://www.merseygateway.co.uk/Following the Chancellor’s further statement in July 2015 that the Government is looking at extending Mersey Gateway bridge toll discounts to residents of Chester West & Chester and Warrington, officials are currently working through what the proposed further extension means for the scheme.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the level of local authority preparedness and funding for winter road maintenance.

Andrew Jones: Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network are in need of repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. This duty includes winter maintenance.In terms of funding, this Government is providing both tools and funding to local highway authorities in England, outside London, to tackle the condition of our local road network. In the Spending Review 2015, the Government announced that we are allocating a total of £6.1 billion funding for local highways maintenance between now and 2021. This funding includes an additional £250 million between 2016 and 2021 for a potholes action fund to improve local roads, to promote innovation within the sector and to ensure that taxpayers get greater value for money. I also note that funding in 2010 to 2015 was itself £1 billion higher than in 2005 to 2010.Further details can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/6-billion-funding-to-tackle-potholes-and-improve-local-roadsIn October, I wrote to the leaders of all local highway authorities reminding them of their responsibilities regarding preparation for winter and the need for robust contingency plans in place to mitigate against any significant weather we may encounter over the winter period. I also took the opportunity to remind them of the recommendations to local authorities made in the independent review of transport resilience the Department commissioned following the wet winter of 2013/14. The report can be found at the following web link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transport-resilience-review-recommendationsThe Department for Transport (DfT) continues to play its part to ensure we stay ahead of the game for the winter and some of the action we are taking to ensure the country enters the 2015/16 winter season well prepared. This includes continuing to maintain a substantial national emergency salt reserve, first set up by the Coalition government, and having a robust distribution process in place, if for any reason this salt of last resort is needed to be allocated.We have published on the DfT section of GOV.UK website a Salt Protocol Note which sets out the arrangements for the allocation of emergency reserve salt to local authorities, if and when required. From October, the Department regularly monitors salt stocks being held by highway authorities.We also work with the Met Office and other Government departments in respect of the ‘Get Ready for Winter’ Campaign. The guidance provides to the general public advice on clearing snow and ice from pathways and we encourage local authorities to include a web link on their website to it. The guidance can be found here:http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/get-ready-for-winter/out-and-about/the-snow-code

Manchester Airport

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has made to the Office of Road and Rail on the allocation of rail paths to Manchester Airport in the last five years.

Andrew Jones: The Department has monthly trilateral (Department for Transport, Office of Rail and Road (ORR) and Network Rail) meetings in order to deliver the existing requirements of the current franchise agreements throughout the last 5 years, especially in connection with the bi-annual timetable changes.Last month, the Department wrote to the ORR in connection with the application from Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) for additional train paths to and from Manchester Airport. The letter acknowledged that the ATW proposal offered passenger benefits but also noted that, on conclusion of the Northern and TPE franchise competitions, there were likely to be other competing pressures for train paths on the route between central Manchester and the Airport. The purpose of the letter was to draw ORR’s attention to the likelihood of such pressures emerging, and to observe that ATW’s application should be considered alongside the proposals from the successful Northern and TPE bidders to ensure that maximum passenger benefit is obtained from the train paths available.

Railways: North of England

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what account his Department has taken of the performance of Arriva Transport in its patient delivery contract in Greater Manchester in its work to ensure that Arriva Rail North fulfils its contractual obligations.

Andrew Jones: At the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire stage of the bidding process we assess applicants to ensure they have the right approaches and capabilities to operate a rail franchise. This includes assessment of their management approaches to safety/culture etc. and requires them to provide evidence of these practices. We assess purely on this evidence and if the applicant is successful, they will be able to compete for a franchise. Applicants are also required to inform us as the authority if circumstances change. We do not comment on the specific evidence provided to us as part of this process as it is commercially sensitive, however we are content that Arriva Rail North are an appropriate company to operate the franchise.

Railways: North of England

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans that smart ticketing will cover the entirety of the North or be separated between city regions.

Andrew Jones: We are working towards a world class transport network that is supported by a ticketing system that makes it simple and easy to travel across the North by bus, tram, metro and rail. In the recent spending review, the Government committed up to £150 million of new funding to help make this vision a reality. By Budget 2016, Transport for the North will set out an implementation plan for the delivery of smart and integrated ticketing across local transport and rail services in the North over this parliament and beyond.

Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many complaints his Department has received about the DVLA from people resident in Northern Ireland since 1 July 2014.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency received 327 complaints from customers with a Northern Ireland postal address between 1 July 2014 and 16 December 2015.

Airports: South East

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the latest date is on which he could announce his decision on airport expansion in the south east consistent with meeting the timetable for delivering capacity set out by the Airports Commission.

Mr Robert Goodwill: On 10 December, the Government accepted the Airports Commission’s case for expansion in the South East. We agree with the Commission’s shortlist of three options, all of which it concluded were viable. The Government will now conclude a package of further work by the summer, and will ensure that the timetable for delivering additional capacity set out by the Commission does not alter.

Driving Tests: Chester

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many residents of (a) Flintshire and (b) Wrexham county have used driving test centre facilities in Chester in each year since 2010.

Andrew Jones: The number of residents of (a) Flintshire and (b) Wrexham county that have used the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency test centre facilities in Chester in each year since 2010 is shown below –YearCountyResidents2010Flintshire2,624Wrexham72Wrexham/Flintshire1012011Flintshire2,640Wrexham93Wrexham/Flintshire772012Flintshire2,388Wrexham89Wrexham/Flintshire932013Flintshire2,415Wrexham75Wrexham/Flintshire772014Flintshire2,594Wrexham94Wrexham/Flintshire9301/01/2015 - 30/11/2015Flintshire2,618Wrexham71Wrexham/Flintshire83The above figures reflect the individual residents who have taken a test at Chester in each year. Where someone has used the test centre in more than one year, they will be counted in each of those years.The number of individuals is based on the number of unique driver licence numbers. If someone has been issued with a new driver licence number, for example if they have changed their name, both driver licence numbers will be counted.

Electric Vehicles

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 July 2015 to Question 6809, what progress his Department has made on allocating funding for investment into ultra low emission vehicles and the infrastructure to support such vehicles.

Andrew Jones: The government allocated more than £600 million to support the uptake and manufacture of ultra low emission vehicles in the 2015 Spending Review. This represents an increase of over £100 million on the Government’s previous commitment and means the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) will continue to provide one of the most comprehensive packages of support for ultra low emission vehicles in the world.On 17 December the Government announced it has allocated £400 million so that the Plug-in Car Grant will continue to at least 2018, well beyond the previous guarantee of February 2016, and which will mean more than 100,000 people will benefit over the coming years – double the number who have already claimed the grant since 2011. The Government also announced the continuation of the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, which will provide £500 towards the cost of installing a domestic chargepoint.We will provide further details about the wider OLEV programme during the first part of 2016.

Airports: South East

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to enable smaller London airports to provide extra aviation capacity for the South East of England over the next 10 years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government set out in its 2013 Aviation Policy Framework that it would like to see airports making best use of their existing capacity. However, we recognise that the development of airports can have negative as well as positive local impacts, including on noise levels. We therefore consider that proposals for expansion at these airports should be judged on their individual merits, taking careful account of all relevant considerations, particularly economic and environmental impacts.

Bus Services: Finance

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many of the organisations awarded funding from the Community Transport Minibus Fund in March 2015 have received (a) a vehicle and (b) that funding.

Andrew Jones: In March 2015, 310 organisations were announced has having successful bids under the Community Transport Minibus Fund. The specific requirements of each organisation were then individually assessed.76 of those organisations whose vehicle requirements are very specific have been identified for grant funding. 47 have received a 10% deposit for their vehicle and of those, 6 have received the full balance as their vehicle is ready for delivery.A procurement competition is currently open to provide a further 210 vehicles through Crown Commercial Services’ vehicle conversion and vehicle purchase frameworks, to ensure value for money.The remaining vehicle requirements are being discussed individually as they are either outside the scope of the fund or their requirements have change.

West Coast Railway Line

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what winter weather resilience measures have been put in place for the West Coast mainline.

Claire Perry: The rail industry has well-established procedures to ensure that railway infrastructure and trains are prepared for winter conditions, including the operation of specialised trains to treat the track to help keep it clear of snow and ice, the use of points heaters to prevent those freezing up, and measures to keep snow and ice out of electrical equipment on trains. With appropriate variation for the specific needs of each part of the network, these arrangements apply on the West Coast Main Line as on the rest of the network. I note that recently the West Coast main line north of Carlisle was re-opened just three days after being submerged under eight feet of floodwater.

Railways: North of England

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contingency plans his Department has for the funding of the new Northern and TransPennine franchises in the event that projected passenger number increases are not achieved.

Andrew Jones: Revenue risk for these two franchises lies with the franchisee, not the Department. This means the Department is not responsible for covering any shortfall in farebox revenue compared to the successful bidders' expectations.The successful bids are backed by significant parent company support which can be called upon in life to ensure the liquidity ratios are met. Also both franchises were subjected to a financial robustness test as part of the bid evaluation process and considered low risk for the Department.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on proposals for an independent body to regulate the car insurance industry.

Andrew Jones: There are no proposals for a new independent body to regulate the car insurance industry.Motor insurers are regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Rail Delivery Group: Finance

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding the Rail Delivery Group received from the public purse in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013, (d) 2014 and (v) 2015.

Claire Perry: The information requested is in the table below.YearAmountSource2011-12N/A2012-13N/A2013-14N/A2014-15£1,189,417 £151,987Network Rail[1] Directly Operated Railways[2]2015-16 (1 April 2015 to date) £1,832,625[3]Network Rail [1] Network Rail was reclassified as a public body by the Office for National Statistics on 1 September 2014. The figure shown is Network Rail’s contribution to the Rail Delivery Group from September 2014 – March 2015.[2] Rail Delivery Group charged Directly Operated Railways for the first time in 2014-15.[3] The figure shown is based on a full year contribution of £2,443,500.

Stratford Station

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received on international services stopping at Stratford International station; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Eurostar on stopping services at Stratford International station.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects Deutsche Bahn to commence operating international services from London St Pancras; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with his German counterpart on the future operation of Deutsche Bahn services between Stratford International and Germany.

Claire Perry: I recognise the international importance of the HS1 network in allowing high-speed rail services from London to reach Europe, whilst noting that no international services currently serve Stratford International station. Eurostar, in which the government recently sold its 40% stake, accesses the HS1 network on an open access basis and is not subject to the terms of a franchise agreement or a contract let by government. Government has no power to direct or specify that Eurostar stops at Stratford International station. A decision made by Eurostar not to serve Stratford International would be as a result of commercial imperatives and priorities, for example, the potential revenue derived from customers using the station or the increased journey time which a further stop would involve. It would not be appropriate for government to interfere with that decision-making process. I have not received any recent representations on this matter from potential or actual train operators; who in any event, should address their questions to HS1 Ltd, as the infrastructure manager, in the first instance; nor have I held any discussions with Eurostar on the matter of services to Stratford.Regarding any aspirations of Deutsche Bahn to commence operation of international services from St Pancras International, this is rightly a matter for HS1 Ltd as the infrastructure manager, who I understand have held discussions with a number of potential new entrants, including Deutsche Bahn. It would not be appropriate to comment on any ongoing commercial discussions between those parties.

Railways: Electrification

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many miles of track Network Rail expects to electrify in Control Period 5.

Claire Perry: The Government has learned the lessons from Labour’s failure to invest in electrifying our railways. We remain committed to our modernisation programme of over 850 miles of electrification and have already electrified more than five times the route length that Labour oversaw between 1997 to 2010.Sir Peter Hendy’s review of the rail upgrade programme details that the vast majority of programmes and projects will go ahead for delivery by 2019 (the end of Control Period 5).However, some schemes are more immature in their development and, whilst schemes in this category will have significant delivery within Control Period 5, these schemes will span more than one control period.

Gospel Oak-Barking Railway Line: Electrification

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Gospel Oak to Barking Line electrification programme includes electrification of that line's freight links.

Claire Perry: The Gospel Oak–Barking electrification programme includes plans to electrify the freight links. The timing and funding for these links is being reviewed in conjunction with Sir Peter Hendy’s re-plan of Network Rail enhancements and the revised cost estimates of all electrification projects. The main scheme continues to be on target for completion in 2017.

Railways: Tickets

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on his Department's South East Flexible Ticketing programme.

Claire Perry: Smart ticketing was taken forward by the Coalition Government after 2010. The South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme is proceeding with contractual obligations for five train operators who run commuter services into London - Abellio Greater Anglia, c2c, Govia Thameslink Railway, Southeastern and South West Trains. Together, these five train operators cover 73% of the annual season ticket market. We are discussing with the Rail Delivery Group and the remaining train operators the best and quickest way to deliver smart and more flexible ticketing for commuters in the south east and across all of England.

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects Network Rail's review of the delivery programme of the Great Western Main Line electrification to be completed.

Claire Perry: Network Rail’s review of the delivery programme of the Great Western Main Line electrification has been completed as part of the Hendy review and details will be included in the Enhancement Delivery Plan update to be published in early 2016.

Department for Communities and Local Government

European Regional Development Fund

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what UK projects received funding under the European Regional Development Fund 2007-2013; what the location of each such project was; and what the amount received in funding was for each such project.

James Wharton: In the 2007-13 programmes, the grant recipients of the European Regional Development Fund generally had to deliver the projects across the region covered by that programme; location details for those grant recipients have been provided and are shown in the attached table.



ERDF Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 83.22 KB)

Devolution

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how his Department plans to enable the sharing of best practice from current and completed devolution deals.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government is pleased to have reached agreement on devolution deals with seven local areas during 2015 which will enable local people to make decisions on the priorities and investments which will best help local areas to succeed and grow. We are now focused on implementation of these deals, and as part of this process monitoring and evaluation will be crucial.

Social Services: Finance

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how his Department plans to monitor whether income from the proposed two per cent rise in council tax intended to contribute to the social care levy is being spent on social care.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much he expects local authorities to raise through the proposed social care precept arrangements; and what steps he is taking to ensure those funds are ring-fenced for care services.

Mr Marcus Jones: I refer the hon. Members to information accompanying the provisional local government finance settlement 2016-17, which was announced by my rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark) 17 December 2015, Official Report, Column 1722.This is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-in-2016-to-2017 and https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486708/Core_spending_power_supporting_information.xlsx

Social Services: Finance

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of (a) the level of funding required to cover local authority spending on social care in the period to 2020 and (b) how much the proposed two per cent increase in council tax intended for the social care levy will have raised in funding by 2020 if every authority implements that proposal to the full.

Mr Marcus Jones: Ahead of the Spending Review, the Local Government Association estimated the gap in adult social care funding to be £2.9 billion - arising from a growing elderly population and introduction of the National Living Wage.At Spending Review the Government outlined a package of support worth up to £3.5 billion to ensure councils are able to support some of their older and most vulnerable residents. That included giving authorities with social care responsibilities the flexibility to raise council tax in their area by up to 2% above the referendum threshold for each year between 2016-17 and 2019-20, to fund adult social care services. It is also providing £1500 million additional funding for local authorities to spend on adult social care by 2019-20, to be included in an improved Better Care Fund. Taken together, these measures provide significant resources to address the demographic pressures facing the social care system.In terms of what the social care flexibility could raise, I refer the hon. Member to information accompanying the provisional local government finance settlement 2016-17, which my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Greg Clark), announced to the House on 17 December 2015, Official Report, Column 1722. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-tax-in-2016-to-2017 and https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486708/Core_spending_power_supporting_information.xlsx

Schools: Christchurch

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Housing and Planning of 14 December 2015, Official Report, column 1278, if he will call in for his determination the application by Dorset County Council to grant itself planning permission for a new school on land in the green belt adjoining Marsh Lane, Christchurch, on grounds of its departing from the recently approved Local Development Plan.

Brandon Lewis: The County Council intends to consider the application at its planning committee on 28 January. Should it be minded to approve the proposal, the Council would then refer the application to the Secretary of State due to the scale and location of the development proposed in the Green Belt. If the application is referred, the Secretary of State would then consider whether to call in the application.

Local Government Finance

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken in response to the recommendations and key findings of the National Audit Office's report, Financial sustainability by local authorities 2014, published in November 2014; and what work his Department has carried out on improving its understanding of the financial stability of local authorities.

Mr Marcus Jones: The National Audit Office report, Financial Sustainability of Local Authorities made four key recommendations.In line with my rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State's (Greg Clark) statement to the House on 17 December, Official Report, Columns 1722-1724, we have noted the criticism of the Public Accounts Committee and the DCLG select committee about previous inclusions of the existing Better Care Fund and the Public Health Grant in councils' spending power. So we will follow their advice, and henceforth report only resources over which councils have discretion.In relation to transformation projects, the overall local government finance system sets the conditions to achieve value for money through strong pressure to improve outcomes, whilst delivering services more efficientlyWe have learnt from previous spending reviews. In preparation for the Spending Review 2015 officials had early and extensive engagement with all departments that rely on local government to deliver services. This enabled the department to build up a clear picture of whether local authorities core funding was sufficient to deliver their statutory services.The Department monitors the financial stability of local authorities as part of its oversight of local government expenditure. Officials use the detailed data returns that provided by local authorities throughout the year and they gather intelligence through routine interactions with local authorities, representative bodies and other departments. This helps them to anticipate and act on potential problems.

Members: Correspondence

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter of 11 October 2015 from the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which was passed to his Department.

Brandon Lewis: I replied to the hon. Member on 4 January.

Council Tax

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to conduct a revaluation of council tax bands in 2016.

Mr Marcus Jones: There are no plans to carry out a revaluation of council tax bands in 2016.

Local Government: Powers

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to review the effectiveness of the general power of competence.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Conservative led coalition Government gave a commitment that a post implementation review of the provisions of the Localism Act 2011, including the provisions relating to the general power of competence, would be undertaken within three to five years following implementation. We will honour that commitment.

Housing Benefit

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether (a) all and (b) vulnerable tenants who receive housing benefit are subject to additional protection from eviction by landlords.

Brandon Lewis: Private rented sector legislation as in the Housing Act 1988, and the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 sets out the rights of landlords and tenants. It is applicable to all tenants and landlords, and there are no specific protections for (a) all housing benefits claimants or (b) vulnerable tenants, other than their statutory rights in UK legislation.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Palestinians: Detainees

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the statement by Baroness Anelay of St John's of 28 October 2014, HCWA 149, what progress has been made arranging a return visit with the delegation who compiled the Children in Military Custody report.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Dates for the follow up visit have yet to be finalised, but it is expected to take place in Spring 2016.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Pilot Schemes

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the statement of 1 December 2014, HC Deb, 46W, what assessment he has made of the performance of the pilot scheme allowing individuals to be summoned rather than arrests being made at night.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: On 2 June, the Minister of State, my noble Friend, The Rt Hon Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE met the Israeli Military Advocate General and discussed the pilot scheme allowing individuals to be summoned rather than be arrested at night. We understand that the scheme has functioned well and has been used in a significant proportion of arrests. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv continue to push for further progress on the issue of children held in military detention with Israeli officials. On 23 November, an official from our Embassy in Tel Aviv met Israel’s Chief Prosecutor and discussed the issue of child detention and on 27 August, our Ambassador to Tel Aviv lobbied the Israeli Military Advocate General on Children in Detention where the issue of child detention was also discussed.

Tunisia: British Nationals Abroad

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has had recent discussions with the Tunisian government on the safety of UK citizens who plan to travel to that country during 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Both the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and I discussed security with the Tunisian authorities during our recent visits. Our current travel advice advises against all but essential travel to the larger part of Tunisia, except some border areas where we recommend against all travel.We continue to work with the Tunisians to enhance their ability to counter the terrorist threat and protect tourists; our security support has increased significantly since the Sousse attack.

China: International Relations

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on bilateral relations of recent decisions by China to construct new islands on coral reefs in disputed waters.

Mr Hugo Swire: Whilst the UK takes no position on the underlying sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, we are concerned about the impact of any unilateral actions, such as large scale land reclamation, and the risk these may pose to freedom of navigation and regional stability.We have raised these issues with China through our regular bilateral dialogue. We have also called on all parties to exercise restraint and pursue the settlement of disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to refrain from activity likely to raise tensions.

Israel: Palestinians

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the building of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The British Government has repeatedly condemned settlement announcements. In meetings with our Israeli counterparts we continue to call on the Israeli authorities to cease all settlement building as required under international law. On 24 November, I reiterated our opposition to Israeli settlements in my meeting with Israel’s Head of Military Intelligence. On 10 September, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (David Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised our concerns about settlement building with Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Kyrgyzstan: Human Rights

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the government of Kyrgyzstan about human rights, and the Kyrgyz seat on the UN Human Rights Council from January 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We engage with the Kyrgyz authorities regularly, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora, across a broad spectrum on governance and human rights issues. The UK participated actively in Kyrgyzstan’s UN Universal Periodic Review process in October 2014. On 18 December, the UK Chargé d’ Affaires, together with EU Delegation Officials, discussed human rights issues with the Chair of the Kyrgyz Parliamentary committee responsible for Human Rights. We welcome Kyrgyzstan's election to the UN Human Rights Council. We hope it will be an opportunity for Kyrgyzstan to build on its achievements to date to ensure full respect for its international human rights commitments and the Constitution, including the right to protection against any kind of discrimination; and equality before the law.

Kyrgyzstan: Human Rights

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Kyrgyzstan about the role and future of international non-governmental organisations working on human rights; and whether he has raised with that government the ban on the head of the Human Rights Watch office in Bishkek.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: During his visit to Kyrgyzstan in October 2014, Minister of State for Justice Lord Faulks discussed with Kyrgyz interlocutors a number of human rights issues, including the Foreign Agents Bill and other legislation that might restrict freedoms of expression and association. Our Embassy in Bishkek has also raised our concerns on a number of occasions with the Government of Kyrgyzstan and with Kyrgyz parliamentarians. We were concerned to hear of the refusal to grant entry to the Kyrgyz Republic to a representative from Human Rights Watch on 2 December. We are seeking further clarification from the Kyrgyz authorities. We will continue to raise our concerns about human rights directly with the government of Kyrgyzstan, and in suitable international fora, at every appropriate opportunity.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government has provided to the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Global Coalition has provided air support to the Syrian Democratic Forces in their fight against Daesh. The US is leading international efforts to support the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and has provided ammunition and other equipment. The UK has not provided any ammunition or equipment to the SDF, but is playing a full role in the Coalition air campaign in Syria. We will work closely with the US, and other Coalition allies, to consider additional support to all partner forces in Syria fighting Daesh, including the SDF.

Syria: Peace Negotiations

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made about the exclusion of Syrian Kurdish groups from peace talks in Riyadh.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Kurds will play an important role in a political settlement for Syria. Members of all major communities within Syrian society participated in the Riyadh Opposition Conference. This included minorities such as the Kurds within the major political parties. The meeting participants agreed to form a delegation to negotiate with Syrian regime representatives in accordance with the Geneva Communiqué, under the auspices of the UN and supported by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). The ISSG has agreed that protecting the rights of all Syrians regardless of ethnicity or religious domination is fundamental. The UK will continue to work for this, as political discussions continue.

Syria: Politics and Government

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on the creation of the Syrian Democratic Assembly in Northern Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The creation of the Syrian Democratic Assembly to act as the political branch of the Syrian Democratic Forces was agreed at the Democratic Syria Conference for Opposition Forces held between 8-9 December. This conference brought together Syrian Kurdish and Arab parties that reside in Northern Syria. They discussed the future of the country after four years of war and agreed that the Syrian crisis must be solved through negotiation, the fight against terrorism and political change through a transition followed by free and fair elections and a new constitution.It is important that all parties, including the Syrian Democratic Assembly, work towards the shared goal of a political settlement to the conflict based on the Geneva Communiqué. The UK will continue to work through the International Syrian Support Group towards that goal.

Whales

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the governments of (a) Japan, (b) Norway and (c) Iceland on whaling.

Mr Hugo Swire: This Government continues to raise its opposition to whaling with Japan, Norway and Iceland at every appropriate opportunity, including through correspondence and during bilateral meetings, making clear the strength of opposition to whaling in the UK. In 2014 our Ambassador to Norway called on Norway’s Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission on 4 September. The UK joined a demarche against Iceland on 15 September 2014 and, during his visit to Iceland in October 2015, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) raised whaling with Prime Minister Gunnlaugsson. On 7 December 2015, the UK, together with 32 other countries, delivered a demarche to Japan in response to the Japanese government’s decision to recommence research (special permit) whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Darwin Initiative

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has spent on the Darwin Initiative in each year since 2010.

James Duddridge: I refer the Honourable Lady to the answer provided by my Hon Friend the Member for Penrith and the Border (Rory Stewart), Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs, in PQ 20429 on 5 January 2016.

Burundi: Politics and Government

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last discussed violence and insecurity in Burundi with (a) the Burundi Ambassador, (b) the Burundi government, (c) the UN and (d) the African Union.

James Duddridge: I spoke with the Burundian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Deo Sindayihebura, about violence and insecurity in Burundi on Thursday, 10th December. In the week commencing 14 December, I was in the region. On 17 December I discussed violence and insecurity in Burundi with the Burundian Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe, and Major General Prime Niyongabo, Army Chief Of Staff.My visit to the region was focused on Burundi throughout. I had separate meetings with the Ugandan President Museveni and the Ugandan Foreign Minister Kutesa. Additionally, I spoke by phone with Defence Minister Kiyonga, the Ugandan nominated mediator, on 15 December. I met the Rwandan Foreign Minister Mushikiwabo on 16 December. These meetings were with key members of the African Union, who are looking to help find solutions to the situation. On 7 November, I spoke with Ibrahima Fall, AU Special Envoy to the Great Lakes, and Smail Chergui, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security.I met with UN Humanitarian agencies including UNHCR, IOM, WFP, UNICEF whilst in Burundi. I also recently wrote to the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Conflict Prevention, Jamal Benomar, to make clear our concerns about Burundi and offer the UK Government’s support to him.

Gambia: Human Rights

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation of (a) women, (b) journalists, (c) the LGBT community and (d) religious minorities in the Gambia.

James Duddridge: The UK remains concerned about the human rights situation in The Gambia. Since July The Gambia has taken some steps to address human rights concerns, including banning female genital mutilation and the dismissal of cases against members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans-sexual community by the Gambian courts. However, more needs to be done. We continue to monitor the situation closely and press the Gambian government for improved respect for human rights.

Gambia: Religious Freedom

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has discussed the declaration of an 'Islamic State' by the government of the Gambia with that government; and what assurances he has received from that government on the protection of religious freedoms in that country.

James Duddridge: The British Embassy in Banjul has regular contact with the Gambian government but has not yet discussed the recent declaration of an Islamic State in The Gambia with President Jammeh. However, President Jammeh has publicly stated that this decision will have no impact on other religions in the country. The Gambia has a proud history of religious and ethnic tolerance, which we expect to continue.

Bahrain: Prisoners

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the government of Bahrain on the release of Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace in the last 12 months.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We have raised Dr Al-Singace’s case with the Government of Bahrain, including at the highest levels, and continue to do so on a regular basis. We regularly discuss human rights issues with the Government of Bahrain - including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting, which was recently held in November 2015. I am aware that the Ombudsman’s Office met Dr. Al Singace when he was in Qalaa Hospital and subsequently opened an investigation. We will continue to monitor Dr. Abduljalil Al Singace’s case closely.

Nigeria: Security

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Nigeria; and if he will make a statement.

James Duddridge: There are a number of security challenges in Nigeria and the threat from terrorism continues to be high. In the north east of Nigeria, recent military successes have driven the terrorist group Boko Haram from key towns, but they remain a serious threat and continue to launch regular suicide attacks. Elsewhere in Nigeria inter-communal violence and incidents of kidnaps and crime have led us to advise against all travel, or all but essential travel, to some areas of the country. This is set out in more detail in Foreign & Commonwealth Office travel advice for Nigeria, which is kept under constant review.The UK is providing a substantial and increasing package of security, intelligence, development and humanitarian support to Nigeria to help it defeat terrorism and improve security.

Bahrain: Prisoners

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Bahraini authorities about the release from prison of Mahdi Abu Dheeb, President of the Bahrain Teachers' Association.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We have raised Mahdi abu Dheeb’s case with the Government of Bahrain, including at the highest levels. We continue to monitor this case closely as we do with a number of other trials, including through attendance at hearings by a member of staff from the British Embassy. The UK continues to encourage the Government of Bahrain to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments and to appropriately address all reports of ill-treatment of detainees. In parallel, we encourage all those with concerns about their treatment in detention to report these directly to the Ombudsman.

Gambia: Elections

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) ECOWAS and (b) the African Union on ensuring free and fair elections in the Gambia in 2016.

James Duddridge: The UK has not yet had discussions with either ECOWAS or the African Union about the December 2016 Presidential elections in The Gambia. The 2011 Presidential elections in The Gambia were overseen by both EU funded election observers and the African Union, and recognised by the international community as reflecting the will of the people. We will work with our EU and regional partners to encourage the Gambian authorities to ensure the next Presidential election also meets accepted standards.

Ukraine: Armed Conflict

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Eastern Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: The security situation in eastern Ukraine remains fragile, although a ceasefire agreed in September continues largely to hold following an order issued by the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ chief-of-staff on 25 November not to return fire unless in self-defence. Progress on the Minsk peace process was made at a Normandy-format Foreign Ministers’ meeting on 6 November, including agreements on the withdrawal of heavy weapons and de-mining. However these now need to be fully implemented alongside the ceasefire being fully respected.A report published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 9 December reported that the total death toll since mid-April 2014 is at least 9,098, with another 20,732 injured. The report also reveals that serious human rights abuses against people in the separatist-held areas continue, including killings, torture, ill-treatment, illegal detention and forced labour, lack of freedom of movement, assembly and expression. An estimated 2.9 million people living in the conflict area continue to face difficulties in exercising their economic and social rights, in particular access to quality medical care. The already dire humanitarian situation is exacerbated by the lack of access to these areas by international humanitarian organisations. Sustained and unimpeded access by humanitarian organisations to these areas is vital.I expressed my concern at the situation in Ukraine in a statement at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Basel on 3 December, where I called on the Russian Federation to withdraw their weapons and personnel, and use their considerable influence over the separatist leadership in order to bring an end to the crisis. I also raised the Government's concerns about the situation in Eastern Ukraine with Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Titov in Moscow on 22 December.

Syria: Christianity

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, through what means his Department communicates with and receives communications from Christian communities in Syria; and how he assesses the quality of information received otherwise by his Department on the situation of such communities in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Foreign and Commonwealth Office representatives meet Church leaders and Non-Governmental Organisations representing Christian communities in Syria on a regular basis in London, through our Embassy to the Holy See and at our Syria Offices in Beirut and Istanbul. We also receive regular correspondence from groups highlighting the situation of Christians in Syria. These sources provide us with valuable insights into the situation facing Christians in Syria and the region. We recognise the contribution that recognised religious leaders can make on the Syria political track. They and other leading members of civil society will need a strong voice in the debate on Syria’s future.

Islamic State

Tom Pursglove: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of how many (a) children, (b) women and (c) men have been killed by Daesh/ISIL; and what his Department's estimate is of the number of women who have been raped by Daesh.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government is not able to estimate the number of people who have been murdered, raped or subjected to sexual violence at the hands of Daesh. However, the UN and other international organisations have reported on the scale of Daesh violence in Iraq and Syria.

Somalia: Violence

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will issue a response to EDM 858, Violence in Galkayo, Somalia.

James Duddridge: On 2 December, Puntland President Gaas and Galmudug President Guled signed a peace agreement, which resulted in a cessation of hostilities and establishment of a joint committee to facilitate reconciliation. We welcome the mediation efforts of Prime Minister Sharmarke and other Somali leaders. The international community also played an active role in pressing for an agreement: the UN issued a joint statement and ensured leaders were able to travel for the negotiations, and the UK was in contact with Somali leaders directly. Throughout we made clear that this conflict is extremely damaging not only to the people of Galkayo but more widely to the fight against Al Shabaab and to Somalia’s reputation.

Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the case of Abdullah al-Zaher.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The British Government is very concerned about the case of Abdullah al-Zaher. We have raised this case at a senior level in the Government of Saudi Arabia. The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in every country, especially in cases which do not meet the minimum standards defined by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This includes the execution of a minor and the use of the death penalty for a crime which isn’t deemed “the most serious”. We take every opportunity to make the Saudi authorities aware of our views.

Malawi: Homosexuality

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will issue a response to Early Day Motion 884, Arrests in Malawi of Cuthbert Kulemela and Kelving Gonani.

James Duddridge: The British Government’s position is clear: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual persons should not be discriminated against in any way. The British High Commission in Lilongwe discussed the arrest of the two men involved in this case with the Government of Malawi soon after receiving media reports and we made clear our concerns about the case. We welcome the 19 December statement by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs that affirms the moratorium on the arrest and prosecution of consensual homosexual acts. We understand criminal charges against the men involved in this case have now been dropped. We welcome the Government of Malawi’s commitment to review the laws on homosexuality under the penal code and their invitation to involve civil society in that process.

Cabinet Office

Airports

Richard Burden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the dates were of all meetings between July and November 2015 of the Cabinet Sub-committee on airports.

Mr Oliver Letwin: In line with previous answers on this topic, information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, and which Ministers have attended, is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

British Irish Council

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times and in which locations the British Irish council has met since 2010.

Mr Oliver Letwin: Details of all Summits and Ministerial Meetings of the British-Irish Council since 2010 can be found at: http://www.britishirishcouncil.org/

Cabinet Office: Information Officers

Diana Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many press and public relations staff are employed by the (a) Prime Minister's office, (b) Cabinet Office, (c) Privy Council office, (d) Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, (e) Office of the Leader of the House of Lords, (f) Crown Commercial Service, (g) Big Lottery Fund, (h) Government Estates Management, (i) Civil Service Commission, (j) Commissioner for Public Appointments and (k) Senior Salaries Review Body; how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total cost of running the press office is in each of those organisations in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Matthew Hancock: The Prime Minister's office, Privy Council office, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, Office of the Leader of the House of Lords, and Government Estates Management are integral parts of the Cabinet Office and are included in the part of the response below that refers to the main department.The government publishes information on the job titles, pay grades, and the pay costs of civil servants on a twice yearly basis. The latest Cabinet Office organogram is available at https://data.gov.uk/organogram/cabinet-office and the latest structure charts may be downloaded at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-structure-charts .The Big Lottery Fund employs 14.5 (FTE) press and public relations staff in its England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales offices. These staff are focused on raising awareness of Lottery funding and funding opportunities for communities through local and national media and other communications channels. Of those staff, 2 are paid more than £50,000 and none more than £100,000.The total audited costs of running the press offices in the Cabinet Office and the Big Lottery Fund are unavailable on the grounds of disproportionate cost.The Crown Commercial Service, the Civil Service Commission that also includes staff working for the Commissioner for Public Appointments, and the Senior Salaries Review Body, employ no press and public relations staff.Across government, the government communications profession saved £330 million for taxpayers last year compared to 2009 to 2010 - by making its campaigns more cost effective.This means that we reduced communications spending by a total of £1 billion during the last Parliament.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Labour Party: Finance

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of legislative proposals in the Trade Union Bill on the finances of the Labour Party.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to respond to Question 18667, tabled on 3 December 2015.

Nick Boles: The proposals in the Bill are not about party funding. The Trade Union Bill is about employment and industrial relations. We are introducing a greater level of transparency into union activities by requiring union members to make an active decision to contribute to a union’s political fund.If union members want a political fund, this will not necessarily lead to a reduction in the funds available. Therefore no assessment has been made in relation to the impact on the finances of any political party.

Business: Government Assistance

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the benefits that the Growth Accelerator Programme has had for small and medium-sized enterprises since the launch of that programme.

Anna Soubry: The Growth Accelerator was launched as our economy was still recovering from the worst recession this country had faced in 100 years, presided over by the hon Member’s party. An interim evaluation of the Growth Accelerator programme was published in November 2014.Thanks to the difficult decisions made by this government and the last, we now have the fastest growing economy in the developed world and a record number of businesses and as part of our continued commitment to live within our means and pay down our debts, we took the decision to discontinue the Business Growth Service in the Spending Review.

Land Registry

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information he holds on the public satisfaction rating of HM Land Registry.

Anna Soubry: Reports from Quarter 2 2015 show that the customer satisfaction score from the customer satisfaction survey is currently 95%.

Business: Trade

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the number of businesses was that traded goods internationally through export or import in 2014.

Anna Soubry: Data on the number of businesses in Great Britain engaging in international trade in goods can be found on the ONS website in the ‘Exporters and Importers in Great Britain, 2014’ release, published on 12 November 2015.

Business: Trade

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the number of UK businesses is that (a) import services from, (b) export services to or (c) engage in services trade with (i) other EU countries and (ii) non-EU countries.

Anna Soubry: Data on the number of businesses in Great Britain engaging in international trade in services can be found on the ONS website in the ‘Exporters and Importers in Great Britain, 2014’ release, published on 12 November 2015. This data cannot be broken down by EU/Non-EU.

Iron and Steel: Government Assistance

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will set out the exemptions and compensation for the steel industry, and the dates from which each will apply, announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Anna Soubry: On 14 December, the EU Commission approved our first state aid case - to commence relief from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and small-scale Feed-in-Tariff (FiT). Eligible companies will be able to apply for compensation in January 2016, once scheme guidance and application forms have been published. The second state aid case - to compensate competitors of eligible Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) - is currently being considered by the Commission.The Government is expected to pay compensation for RO/FiT costs until the exemption is implemented - the aim is to achieve that from 2017-18.This is in addition to the £50 million of support the Government has already given to the steel industry to mitigate the impact of climate change policies.This relief from energy costs will save industry hundreds of millions of pounds and will give the UK Steel Industry greater certainty around energy costs for the life of the Parliament.

Investment

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate he has made of the investment rate in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

Anna Soubry: The ONS only publishes investment data at a country level, for which the latest published data was in the 23rd December Business Investment release, available on the ONS website. Investment data is unavailable on a regional basis.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Staff

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 19589, what the budget for the BIS Automotive sector team has been in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The administrative budget associated with the BIS Automotive sector team for the last five financial years is illustrated below.Financial YearAdministrative Cost11/12£1,393,614*^12/13£1,187,636^13/14£1,207,986^14/15£1,256,570^15/16£1,219,550^*Includes funding for the Advanced Manufacturing Showcasing team who came under the same administrative budget for these years.^ Includes one FTE on loan to the Office for Low Emission Vehicles

Department for International Development

Middle East: Refugee Camps

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 19180, how her Department calculates how to allocate refugee support funding to recipient countries; what information her Department holds on how the distribution of that funding is allocated by the recipient country; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK has allocated £559 million, of an overall £1.12 billion contribution to the Syria crisis response, to support refugees in the region and vulnerable host communities. This includes £304 million in Lebanon, £193 million in Jordan and the remainder across the region. The UK prioritises its assistance according to where needs are greatest and most unmet, guided by assessments including the UN appeals, and the capacity of the host country to absorb refugees.In line with the key humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality, we work with trusted humanitarian partners with experience of operating in fragile and conflict affected states, to ensure that aid is delivered to people on a needs basis. In 2015/16 DFID is working with 18 humanitarian partners in neighbouring countries. These include UN agencies, international organisations, NGOs and civil society organisations.

Department for Education

Children: Day Care

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and which local authorities have returned childcare grant funding to the Exchequer in each of the last five financial years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Funding to local authorities for the early years entitlement for two, three and four-year-olds is made via the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). In the last five years, the Department has not recovered money allocated through DSG from any local authority.Prior to April 2013, funding for the entitlement for two-year olds was paid to local authorities through the Early Intervention Grant and no money allocated by this means was recovered by the Department.

Carers: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have received young carer assessments under the Children and Families Act 2014 since its implementation; and what proportion of young carers received services from the local authority to meet their needs following such an assessment.

Edward Timpson: This information is not available to the Department.From April 2015, all young carers are entitled to an assessment of their needs for support by the local authority. These new provisions work alongside those in the Care Act 2014 for assessing adults to enable ‘whole family approaches’ to assessment and support. This means that when a child is identified as a young carer, the needs of everyone in the family will be considered. This will cause both children’s and adults’ support services to assess why a child has a caring responsibility, what needs to change, and what would help the family to prevent children from taking on this responsibility in the first place.This reform is intended to ensure effective, joined-up support with the potential to offer a single point of professional contact for young carers and their families.

Syria: Refugees

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the need for special education facilities to educate young people coming to the UK as a result of the conflict in Syria; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Government is wholly committed to ensuring that Syrian refugees who are resettled in the UK receive appropriate support and have a positive experience while they remain in the UK. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is conducting detailed assessments of the needs of all Syrian refugees who are to be re-settled in the UK, including any special educational facilities required by children. These are forwarded to host local authorities prior to the families’ arrival in the UK and will help to ensure that their needs are matched to the availability of local facilities. Based on the experience of the first 1000 arrivals, the government is in the process of assessing the longer term and wider requirements for specialist provision arising from the Prime Minister’s pledge to re-settle 20,000 refugees during the life-time of this Parliament.

Social Services: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which children's services departments have (a) been judged as inadequate by Ofsted and (b) had outside commissioners take over responsibility for those services from local authorities in each of the last five years.

Edward Timpson: Since December 2010, Ofsted has inspected local authorities under the following frameworks: Safeguarding and Looked after Children; local authority arrangements for the protection of children; local authority arrangements for children looked after; local authority adoption agencies; and single inspection of services for children in need of help and protection, looked after children and care leavers, including a review of the Local Safeguarding Childrens Boards (LSCB).During this period, the following local authorities have been rated as ‘inadequate’:Barnsley, Bexley, Birmingham, Blackpool, Buckinghamshire, Calderdale, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Cornwall, Coventry, Cumbria, Darlington, Devon, Doncaster, Herefordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Kingston upon Thames, Knowsley, Lambeth, Lancashire, Leicester City, Manchester, Medway, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Peterborough, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sandwell, Slough, Somerset, Sunderland, Surrey, Sutton, Torbay, Walsall, Waltham Forest, West Berkshire, West Sussex and Wiltshire.Commissioners have been appointed in Birmingham, Doncaster, Rotherham, Slough, and Sunderland. Depending on the needs in each Council, commissioners have played a range of roles, including establishing chidren’s social care Trusts; exercising executive control over services; and ensuring effective improvement plans are in place.

Social Services: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which sponsors have expressed an interest forming trusts to take over the responsibilities of local authority children's services departments judged as inadequate.

Edward Timpson: In 2016, the Secretary of State for Education will host a round table to explore how charities, local authorities, and others can best support the establishment of children’s service’s trusts, including the option of sponsorship.

Social Services: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which high performing children's services departments have provided assistance to other local authorities with such departments judged as inadequate since 2010.

Edward Timpson: Since 2010, Hampshire County Council, Essex County Council, Leeds City Council, and Achieving for Children (a social enterprise company created by Kingston and Richmond Councils to provide their children's services) have all provided assistance, through formal arrangements brokered by the Department for Education, to local authorities that have been judged inadequate by Ofsted. A range of support has been provided by Councils outside of those arrangements.

Children in Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many concurrent planning arrangements for children have been authorised in each of the last six years in each local authority.

Edward Timpson: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer to Written Question 19262, published on 14 December 2015, which is as follows:‘Ofsted publishes local authority level information on the number of children in foster placements that are subject to concurrent planning. The information is available via the following links:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fostering-in-england-1-april-2012-to-31-march-2013https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fostering-in-england-1-april-2013-to-31-march-2014https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fostering-in-england-1-april-2014-to-31-march-2015’Data prior to 2013 is not available.

Children: Day Care

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Review of childcare costs: the analytical report, published by her Department on 25 November 2015, if she will publish the responses to her Department's call for evidence on childcare costs in full.

Mr Sam Gyimah: It is not the Department’s policy to publish individual responses to a consultation or to a call for evidence, some of which may have been submitted to the Department in confidence. The Department published the findings of the call for evidence on 8 October 2015 and the report is available from this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/cost-of-providing-childcare-review-call-for-evidenceThe call for evidence was an important part of the government’s review of the cost of childcare and it is one of the sources of evidence that informed the final report which was published on 25 November 2015.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Mrs Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will change the funding for school children who receive their education outside of their own area, in order to enable the funding to follow the pupil.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We are committed to fairer school funding, where the money our schools receive matches their pupils’ needs. At the Spending Review, alongside protecting the schools budget in real terms, we announced our intention to deliver this by introducing a national funding formula for schools in 2017. That will mean children attract funding based on their individual characteristics, and not where they live, or whether the schools they attend are situated in other local authority areas. The amount of money following each pupil will be clear, and funding levels across the country will be transparent and fair. These are significant reforms and we will consult extensively in the New Year to ensure we get them right and to provide clarity and security for schools.

English Baccalaureate

Peter Heaton-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to consult the teaching profession before implementation of the English Baccalaureate.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Carers: Young People

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) financial and (b) other support is available to help young adult carers who wish to continue on to higher education.

Nick Boles: The Government recognises that young carers face challenges participating in higher education and they may require additional support to do so effectively. We have made changes to student support for those in higher education in the 2016/17 academic year. In particular, students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are living away from home and studying outside London can receive a maximum maintenance loan for living costs of £8,200 a year in 2016/17. This represents an increase of £766 from the maximum combined loans and grants available in 2015/16. In addition to the main support package, a student who is a young carer can apply for a Childcare Grant or Parents’ Learning Allowance.Students in 16-19 education can also apply for a discretionary bursary to help meet the costs of their travel, equipment, educational trips or anything else that they might require to participate effectively in their education. Funding is also allocated to sixth forms and colleges so they can provide additional educational support to students fromdisadvantaged backgrounds, including young carers.

Students: Finance

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will consider making young adult carers eligible for the vulnerable groups component of the bursary which provides financial support for 16 to 19 year olds.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Government recognises the valuable service that young carers provide both to their community and their families. It is vital that they are not disadvantaged in their education, and have the same access to education, career choices, and wider opportunities as other young people.In November 2015, officials from the Education Funding Agency met representatives from the Carers Trust to discuss how best to support young carers through the 16-19 bursary fund. We will work with the National Association of Managers of Student Services to review the use of the discretionary bursary fund and amend our funding guidance to ensure that institutions prioritise the needs of young carers.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Welsh Language

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the forms on his Department's website is available in Welsh.

Mike Penning: There are 60 Ministry of Justice forms published on gov.uk. Of these, three are translated into the Welsh language, which is five percent of the total. This does not include forms from agencies or arms’ length bodies of the Ministry of Justice. We are committed to providing our forms in the Welsh language where it is clear there is demand.Guidance for departments on the translation of documents for the Government website is provided by the Government Digital Service and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design/welsh-language-on-gov-uk

Insurance

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2015 to Question 18028, with what representatives of claimants his Ministers or officials met when developing policy on the small claims limit.

Dominic Raab: The Government is very clear on what claimant representatives think about raising the small claims limit. The Coalition Government consulted on this issue between December 2012 and March 2013 with a wide range of stakeholders. Following that consultation, the Coalition Government announced in October 2013 that it was deferring the decision on whether to raise the small claims limit to focus instead on work that would lead to the establishment of the MedCo system in April 2015.The present Government decided that the time was right to return to the issue of raising the small claims limit, announcing its intention to do so in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. The Ministry of Justice has continued to engage with representatives from all sectors since the Chancellor’s announcement and will be consulting on the detail of the new reform package in the New Year.

Prisoners: Self-harm

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents there were of (a) self-harm, (b) attempted self-inflicted death and (c) self-inflicted death by prisoners on remand in each year since 2010; and what proportion of all prisoners on remand such incidents represented in each of those years.

Andrew Selous: Every death in custody is a tragedy, and we are committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and self-harm incidents in prisons. Since 2010 the number of self-harm incidents and self-inflicted deaths by prisoners on remand has fallen significantly. All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves, and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has put in place additional resources to undertake this safer custody work. NOMS has also reviewed case management process for prisoners assessed as being at risk and will be acting on the recommendations in due course.The national statistics on safety in custody use the following categories: self-harm incidents are defined as “any act where a prisoner deliberately harms themselves irrespective of the method, intent or severity of any injury”; and self-inflicted deaths are defined as “any death of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life, irrespective of intent.” They do not include a separate category of “attempted self-inflicted death”, because the intent of the prisoner is often unknown. Some incidents are more likely to result in a fatality than others, but the point at which a self-harm incident becomes an attempted self-inflicted death is unclear. For this reason, the tables below include the answers to parts (a) and (c) of the question only. It is not possible to provide the proportion of prisoners that self-harm incidents relate to, as more than one incident may be attributed to the same individual. Instead, a rate per 1,000 prisoners has been provided.

Domestic Violence: Wales

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions for domestic violence have been recorded in (a) Wrexham, (b) North Wales and (c) Wales in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Mike Penning: This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Just Solutions International

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Question 19452, if he will publish the business model referred to in that Answer; and which departments or bodies funded Just Solutions.

Andrew Selous: We have no plans to publish the business model for Just Solutions International (JSi). As I told the House on 14 December, services under JSi were to be provided on a cost recovery basis.

Prisoners' Release: Republic of Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will consider the proximity of the Irish Republic to the UK when developing his policy on early release of prisoners domiciled outside the UK which is contingent on returning to their country of origin.

Andrew Selous: Foreign criminals who break our laws should be properly punished but not at the expense of the British taxpayer. In the last year we have returned more than 5,000 foreign prisoners to their home country, and are committed to ensuring that all means possible are explored to make sure that criminals who have no right to stay in this country are removed.Under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS), which has operated in prisons in England and Wales since 2005, foreign national offenders may be removed from prison and deported up to a maximum of 270 days (9 months) before their normal release date. Citizens of the Republic of Ireland are not, as a matter of longstanding Home Office policy introduced in by the Labour government in 2007, deported from the UK other than in exceptional circumstances. Only foreign nationals who are subject to removal by Immigration Enforcement may be removed under ERS and, for that reason, Republic of Ireland nationals are not generally removed under the scheme unless a decision has been taken exceptionally by the Home Office to deport them.Foreign national offenders who are not going to be removed by Immigration Enforcement are not eligible for ERS and do not leave prison early; they serve their sentence and are released in the same way as domestic prisoners.

Prisons: Locks and Keys

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Questions 19129, prisons: locks and keys, which prisons had to be relocked; and what the cost was of each such incident.

Andrew Selous: When a key/lock incident is reported an immediate investigation is undertaken to assess the risk and unless it is clear that security has not been compromised, locking mechanisms and keys will be replaced and/or other necessary remedial action will be taken.In the five years from May 2005 to May 2010 there were 16 relocks at a cost of £1,280,234 to the taxpayer. Since May 2010 this has fallen to 8 relocks at a total cost of £529,973 to the taxpayer. Further to my answer of 14 December, the table below shows the location of the 8 relocks since May 2010.The cost of a re-lock will depend the size of the prison establishment and on which keys have been lost or compromised. If a complete set of keys are lost, a full re-lock of the prison will be undertaken, whereas if a single key is lost only a partial re-lock will be needed, incurring a lower cost.Time FrameLocation/DateTotal Cost (excluding VAT)1 May 2010 – 1 May 2011HMP Swaleside; HMYOI Glen Parva; HMP Warren Hill£79,526; £173,608; £84,4192 May 2011 – 1 May 2012HMP Birmingham£415,277 12 May 2012 – 1 May 2013None02 May 2013 – 1 May 2014HMP Lindholme£28,8122 May 2014 – 1 May 2015HMP Haverigg; HMP Highpoint£30,540; £15,8562 May 2015 – 9 DecemberHMYOI Portland£117,212Notes:1.The cost of the re-lock at HMP Birmingham was met by the private contractor operating the prison.2.Prisons are also responsible for re-locks of crown court cells. Figures exclude re-lock of cells in two crown courts during the period.3.The figures quoted have been drawn from live administrative databases and may subsequently be amended. Due care is taken during processing and analysis, but the detail is subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Guantanamo Bay

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has made to his American counterpart on Guantanamo Bay in the last five years.

Dominic Raab: It has been a long standing policy of successive British Governments to seek the release and return of those UK nationals and former legal residents who were held at Guantanamo Bay and, in doing so, assist the US administration in its efforts to close the detention facility.We remain committed to assisting the US in its aim to close Guantanamo Bay by facilitating engagement with countries that have agreed to accept former detainees, and by sharing experience and advice on managing the return process.

Personal Injury: Compensation

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 1.143 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what steps his Department took to ensure accuracy of the £2 billion quoted as the cost to insurers of whiplash claims; and if his Department will conduct its own estimate of that cost.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 1.143 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what the evidential basis is of the statement that a claimant culture exists in England and Wales in relation to whiplash claims.

Dominic Raab: The Government received and analysed data from numerous sources when formulating the announcement in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. The quoted figures were arrived at by combining published industry estimates along with data from government and other sources.Government data, compiled by the Compensation Recovery Unit at the Department for Work and Pensions, indicates that claims volumes remain at historically high levels, some 50% higher than in 2006. Over the same period accident rates have fallen by around 26%. This is clear evidence that the system is in need of further reform, which is why on 25 November, in his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced tough new measures to control costs and reduce the number of unnecessary whiplash claims.The Government will consult on the detail of the new reform package in due course and the consultation document will be accompanied by an impact assessment.

Prisons: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents his Department has recorded of drones operating over prison estates in the last year for which figures are available; what steps his Department took following each such incident; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: If an incident involving a drone occurs, prisons will invoke appropriate contingency plans and will work alongside the police and CPS to ensure those responsible are caught. NOMS are exploring research options with the Home Office Centre for Applied Science and Technology (CAST) on detection and mitigation technology for drones.There were 30 reported drone related incidents between 1 December 2014 and 30 November 2015. This includes drone finds and drone sightings by prison staff in and around public and private prisons in England and Wales.Individual prisons will invoke the appropriate contingency plan relevant to the circumstances of the incident involving a drone. This includes, for example, working with the police and CPS to ensure those responsible for an incident involving a drone are caught and, if appropriate, prosecuted.These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Contact Orders: Grandparents

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for Contact Orders submitted by people to see their grandchildren were granted in each of the last three years.

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications by grandparents for permission to apply for a contact order to see their grandchildren were successful in each year since 2010.

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many contact orders for grandparents to see their grandchildren were issued in each year since 2010.

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications by grandparents for rights of access to their grandchildren there were in each year since 2010.

Caroline Dinenage: Under the Children Act 1989 the court may make a child arrangements order to determine with whom a child is to live or spend time. Prior to 22nd April 2014 such orders were called contact and residence orders. The Department collates figures on the numbers of applications made by grandparents for child arrangements orders and the figures for such applications since 2010 are shown below.Number of child arrangement (contact) order applications made by grandparents in England and Wales YearApplications by grandparents201124032012257420132755201416242015 – 3 quarters only1335Unlike parents, grandparents and other family members can only make an application for a child arrangements orders with the permission of the court. The requirement to apply for the court’s permission is not designed to be an obstacle to grandparents, or other close relatives, but to act as a filter to sift out those applications that are clearly not in the child’s best interests. Experience suggests that grandparents (or other interested relatives) would not usually experience difficulty in obtaining permission where their application is motivated by a genuine concern for the child.The Department does not collate figures on applications for a child arrangements order where the court’s permission has been sought. This information could only be obtained by manually checking each case file at disproportionate cost. Similarly, the Department does not collate figures centrally on family members named in a child arrangements order. Details of the numbers of child arrangements orders issued specifically for grandparents to see their grandchildren could only be obtained by checking each file at disproportionate cost.

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason Community rehabilitation companies workforce information report: Q2 2015 to 2016 statistics were cancelled for release.

Andrew Selous: The Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) Workforce Information Report provided information on staffing within the CRCs when they were under public sector management. The final edition was published on 26 February 2015 and provided information as at 31 December 2014. The 21 CRCs became private companies on 1 February 2015 and are therefore now responsible for the management of their own staffing levels. At that time future editions of the Workforce Information Report, for which publication had been pre-announced, were cancelled.

Reoffenders

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rates are for (a) young people who do not complete an accredited qualification in prison, (b) young people who do complete an accredited qualification in prison, (c) all other offenders who complete an accredited qualification in prison, (d) all other offenders who do not complete an accredited qualification in prison and (e) offenders who leave prison unable to read and write.

Andrew Selous: Re-offending rates are not currently available broken down by different levels of education attainment. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Ministry of Justice have, however, jointly commissioned an evaluation of prisoner learning. This study, which is currently underway, aims to use linked administrative datasets to analyse the short-term impact of prisoner education on re-offending outcomes among adult prisoners. The analysis will examine learning aims, rather than accredited qualifications specifically. The study is currently underway and will complete in mid-2016. It will also feed into the independently led review of Education in Prisons being undertaken by Dame Sally Coates. Separately, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills publish information on the number of prisoners achieving an accredited qualification in prison, including qualifications in English at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held (See tables 7.1 and 7.2 on page 36 for offender learning)

Gender Recognition Panels

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding his Department has provided to the Gender Recognition Panel in each of the last five years.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Suicide

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners took their own life in each month of (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014 and (f) 2015 to date.

Andrew Selous: Statistics for deaths in prison custody are not published monthly as they do not give a clear indication of trends.Statistics for deaths in prison custody are published quarterly, and the latest information is available in Table 5 of the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/472712/Safety-in-custody-summary-q2-2015.xls

Magistrates' Courts: Closures

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many magistrates' courts have been closed in each local justice area in each year since 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The tables below shows magistrates’ courts that have closed since 2010:2010Wantage Magistrates Court2011Aberdare Magistrates CourtAbertillery Magistrates CourtActon Magistrates CourtAlnwick Magistrates CourtAmersham Magistrates CourtAmmanford Magistrates CourtAshford Magistrates CourtBalham Youth CourtBarking & Dagenham Magistrates CourtBarry Magistrates CourtBingley (Keighley) Magistrates CourtBishop Auckland Magistrates CourtBlandford Forum Magistrates CourtBlaydon Magistrates CourtBrentford Magistrates CourtCardigan Magistrates CourtChepstow Magistrates CourtCirencester Magistrates CourtCoalville Magistrates CourtColeford Magistrates CourtCromer Magistrates CourtDaventry Magistrates CourtDidcot Magistrates CourtEly Magistrates CourtEpsom Magistrates CourtFlint Magistrates CourtFrome Magistrates CourtGoole Magistrates CourtGosforth Magistrates CourtGrays Magistrates CourtGuisborough (East Langbaurgh) Magistrates CourtHalesowen Magistrates CourtHarrow Magistrates CourtHemel Hempstead Magistrates CourtHoniton Magistrates CourtHoughton-Le-Spring Magistrates CourtIlkeston Magistrates CourtKingston-upon-Thames Magistrates CourtKnowsley Magistrates CourtLewes Magistrates CourtLiskeard Magistrates CourtLlandovery Magistrates CourtLlangefni Magistrates CourtLlwynypia Magistrates CourtLudlow Magistrates CourtLyndhurst Magistrates CourtMarket Drayton Magistrates CourtMarket Harborough Magistrates CourtMelton Mowbray Magistrates CourtNewark Magistrates CourtNorthwich Magistrates CourtOswestry Magistrates CourtPenrith Magistrates CourtPenzance Magistrates CourtPwllheli Magistrates CourtRawtenstall Magistrates CourtRetford Magistrates CourtRochdale Magistrates CourtRugby Magistrates CourtRutland Magistrates CourtSalford Magistrates CourtSittingbourne Magistrates CourtSouthport (North Sefton) Magistrates CourtSudbury Magistrates CourtSutton Coldfield Magistrates CourtSutton Magistrates CourtSwaffham Magistrates CourtTamworth Magistrates CourtThetford Magistrates CourtTotnes Magistrates CourtTowcester Magistrates CourtTynedale (Hexham) Magistrates CourtWest Bromwich Magistrates CourtWhitehaven Magistrates CourtWimborne Magistrates CourtWisbech Magistrates CourtWitney Magistrates CourtWoking Magistrates CourtWoolwich Magistrates Court2012Batley & Dewsbury Magistrates CourtBridgwater Magistrates CourtCamborne Magistrates CourtEpping Magistrates CourtHaringey Magistrates CourtHarwich Magistrates CourtMid-Sussex (Haywards Heath) Magistrates CourtStoke on Trent Magistrates CourtWitham Magistrates Court2013Andover Magistrates CourtDenbigh Magistrates CourtPontefract Magistrates CourtSelby Magistrates CourtTower Bridge Magistrates Court2014Alton Magistrates CourtBracknell Magistrates CourtNeath Magistrates CourtNorth Liverpool Community Justice CentreSpalding Magistrates Court2015Abergavenny Magistrates CourtIt is not possible to present the above sites by their local justice areas as many local justice area boundaries change over time.

Juries

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents of jury (a) intimidation and (b) tampering were recorded in each of the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Just Solutions International: Staff

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19495, what the (a) names, (b) job titles and (c) salary bands were of the staff who worked on Just Solutions International.

Andrew Selous: As was stated in the Answer to questions HL2604 and 19495, 3.5 full time equivalent staff (FTE) worked under the Just Solutions International (JSi) brand. These staff also worked on other, core business within the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). As none of these staff were members of the Senior Civil Service, it would not be appropriate to name them in a Parliamentary answer.

Ministry of Justice: Information Officers

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) the National Archives, (b) the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, (c) HM Courts and Tribunal Service, (d) HM Prison Service, (e) the Legal Aid Agency, (f) the National Offender Management Service, (g) the Office of the Public Guardian, (h) Cafcass, (i) the Criminal Cases Review Commission, (j) the Judicial Appointments Commission, (k) the Legal Services board, (l) the Parole Board, (m) the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, (n) the Law Commission, (o) HM Inspectorate of prisons, (p) HM Inspectorate of Prisons, (p) HM Inspectorate of Probation, (q) the Legal Ombudsman, (r) the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, (s) the Victims' Commissioner; how many of those employees are paid more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those orqanisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mike Penning: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Athletics: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on allegations of doping in athletics.

Tracey Crouch: Both my Department and UK Anti-Doping engage regularly with international counterparts to discuss a range of sporting matters, including tackling doping in sport.

Broadband: Northern Ireland

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many homes in Northern Ireland do not have broadband coverage.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Ofcom connected Nations report published in December 2015 reported 100% broadband coverage for all UK premises, including in Northern Ireland.

Broadband

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how public investment infrastructure in superfast broadband is calculated by his Department.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The funding allocations published by DCMS in February 2014 were based on maximising the numbers of premises that could be covered by superfast broadband, in addition to ensuring that each of the devolved nations had an allocation in line with the Barnett funding formula.

Broadband

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2015 to Question 12762, on broadband, whether the sum to be paid to local authorities and devolved administrations from the funding returned by BT will be linked to the take-up of broadband within that authority or administration's area.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The £129m funding returned by BT to each project is based on an assumption by BT that take-up will reach 30% of premises passed to date in each respective project area.

Broadband

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2015 to Question 12762, on broadband, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of repaying a proportion of the returned funds to the BBC which made an initial contribution to the project.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The clawback funding identified by BT remains available for investment by the local authorities and devolved administrations in further broadband coverage within their respective project areas. This funding has not been returned to DCMS.

Broadband

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2015 to Question 12762, on broadband, how the £129 million to be repaid to local authorities and the devolved administrations will be divided between those bodies; and how the allocation of that funding will be calculated.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The clawback funding identified by BT remains available for investment by the local authorities and devolved administrations in further broadband coverage within their respective project areas. The funding amounts are based on an assumption by BT that take-up will reach 30% of the premises covered to date.

Horse Racing: Scotland

Calum Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the timetable for and potential effects of the introduction of a Horserace Betting Right.

Calum Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the contribution of the horseracing industry to the economy in Scotland.

Tracey Crouch: A 2013 report from Deloitte for the British Horseracing Authority estimated that British racing has a Great Britain wide economic impact of £3.45 billion. Lastyear a public consultation on the potential structure and operation of the Horserace Betting Right was held, inviting views from across Great Britain. To inform our work to replace the current levy system and require offshore operators to make a fair financial contribution to racing alongside those based in Great Britain, I have commissioned an independent economic analysis of the costs and funding of racing. This will draw on information provided by betting and racing.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2015 to Question 18920, how the local body contracts with BT have been funded.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The local body contracts are funded by from the BDUK public funding allocations to projects, local authority or community interest company funding and supplier funding.

National Lottery

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2015 to Question 18159, if he will (a) collect information on the derivation of National Lottery Good Cause income by region and (b) request the National Lottery publish information on derivation of its income by region in accordance with Government open data guidelines.

Tracey Crouch: Camelot, the National Lottery operator, releases detailed national sales information which can be found online at http://www.camelotgroup.co.uk/business/our-uk-national-lottery-operation/performance/Camelot does not release more granular sales data due to its commercially sensitive nature.The Gambling Commission is the National Lottery’s regulator and they oversee Camelot’s work with the aim of protecting the integrity of the Lottery, protecting players and maximising returns to good causes.Allocation of good cause funding by the 12 Lottery distributor bodies is driven by need, and not linked to where tickets are bought, therefore Government does not collect this information.

Nuisance Calls

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold discussions with regulators and consumer groups on ensuring that nuisance telephone calls (a) in general and (b) to elderly citizens are eliminated.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government is cracking down on nuisance calls. Over the last five years the average fine issued has increased from around £5000 to £85000, we've strengthened the law to make it easier to clamp down on companies who break the rules and have increased the maximum fine to £500,000. DCMS Ministers and officials meet regularly with regulators and consumer groups to discuss the most effective approach to tackling this complex issue.

Horse Racing: Betting

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much in horserace betting levy payments were received in (a) statutory and (b) voluntary payments from each betting operator in each of the last three years.

Tracey Crouch: Details of Levy payments are held by the Horserace Betting Levy Board. Section 28 (10) of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 bars the Levy Board from disclosing the statutory contribution of individual bookmakers. The Levy Board has adopted a similar approach to contributions made by voluntary means, providing information about collective totals only. The table below sets out collective totals for each year for both statutory and voluntary payments.(£m)Statutory paymentsVoluntary paymentsTotal2012/1366.7517.57274.3232013/1470.1157.90478.0192014/1560.09011.59371.683Source: Horserace Betting Levy Board

BBC: Royal Charters

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he expects to publish the results of his consultation on the BBC Charter Review.

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he expects to publish the outcomes of his Department's BBC Charter Review consultation.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish the responses to his Department's consultation on the future of the BBC.

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish the Government's response to the BBC Charter renewal consultation.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he expects to publish his Department's response to the BBC Charter Review consultation.

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when responses from members of the public to the recent BBC Charter review consultation will be published.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government's BBC Charter Review Public Consultation closed in October. Over 190,000 people responded to the consultation - the second largest response to any Government consultation. We are in the process of reading and analysing all the responses, and will publish the results once this exercise is completed.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he intends to answer the letter to him from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 9 November 2015 with regard to Mr S Hewitt.

Mr Edward Vaizey: A reply to the letter from the right hon member for Manchester, Gorton, was sent on 21 December.

Department for Work and Pensions

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18554, on housing benefit: social rented housing, what proportion of the estimated 80,000 claimants referred to in that answer are in receipt of (a) disability and (b) in-work benefits.

Justin Tomlinson: The estimated 80,000 claimants referred to in Question 18554 are not disabled for the purposes of the shared accommodation rate exemption. Above this figure there are some disabled claimants within this category who were identified as having rents above the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate. However as these are exempted from the policy they were not included in the original response.Of the estimated 80,000, around 31% have self-declared disabilities which are not exempt from the shared accommodation rate. Of these around 18% are in receipt of disability benefits (DLA/PIP/AA) and around 13% are in receipt of either Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit and are in work.

Children: Poverty

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what ways the proposed life chances measures in the amendments to the Child Poverty Act 2010 will measure child poverty in households with at least one employed adult.

Priti Patel: We are clear that the existing low-income measures do not drive the right action to tackle the root causes of child poverty.Our proposals in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill introduce new statutory measures of worklessness and educational attainment which the evidence indicates are the biggest factors affecting child poverty now and in the future.The Department will also continue to publish low-income statistics as part of the ‘Households Below Average Income’ publication.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 18747, if he will publish the eligibility criteria for advance universal credit payments.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 18747, whether people are made aware of advance Universal Credit payments being made available to them at the initial work search interview.

Priti Patel: To be eligible for a Universal Credit (UC) Advance payment, the claimant has to have an underlying entitlement to UC, be in financial need, and be able to afford to repay the Advance. These criteria are contained within the Social Security (Payments on Account of Benefit) Regulations 2013.If during the initial work search interview, a work coach identifies a claimant is in financial need, or cannot manage until they receive their first UC payment, they will advise them about advance payments.

Housing Benefit

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18555, whether he is consulting on what exemptions should apply to the cap on housing benefit for single under-35 claimants in social housing; and whether changes to the applications of that cap will be implemented through new regulations.

Justin Tomlinson: The existing exemptions that already apply to private rented sector tenants aged less than 35 will be carefully considered prior to implementing the Local Housing Allowance rate for similar tenants living in the social rented sector. Consultation forms a part of the policy development.This change will require legislative amendments.

Severe Disability Premium

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Question 19359, what support his Department plans to provide under universal credit that is currently provided by the Severe Disability Premium.

Justin Tomlinson: When we formulated Universal Credit (UC) in 2010, we determined that the Severe Disability Premium was a payment for care costs rather than daily living costs so are not part of Universal Credit. Costs for care are picked up through the social care system.Under UC the more severely disabled claimants will receive more targeted support. They will receive the Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity element of UC, which is the same level of support that is provided under Employment Support Allowance. Eligibility for these elements will be determined following the outcome of a Work Capability Assessment.

Offshore Industry: Industrial Health and Safety

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Health and Safety Executive is taking to ensure there is timely reduction in the backlog of safety-critical maintenance in the offshore oil and gas industry.

Justin Tomlinson: The responsibility for any backlog in safety-critical maintenance in the offshore oil and gas industry lies with the operators of the offshore installations. The Health and Safety Executive is in dialogue with OGUK, the principal industry representative body, regarding how best industry can track, report and improve upon its performance in this area.The Health and Safety Executive has a programme of inspections of offshore installations. Examination of the standards of maintenance is a key part of the inspection programme and inspectors are empowered to require improvements where standards fall below legal requirements.

22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether training is given to work capability assessors in the symptoms and effects of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

Priti Patel: All healthcare professionals receive comprehensive training in disability analysis which includes a functional evaluation as to how medical conditions affect their ability to perform day-to-day activities. Prior to carrying-out an assessment they routinely refresh their knowledge of any condition with which they are not fully familiar.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many welfare claimants were sanctioned between 21 and 27 December 2015; and how many such claimants were single parents.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not yet available.The Department publishes Official Statistics on Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), (including JSA Lone Parents) and Employment Support Allowance (ESA) sanction decisions and these statistics are published via the following link:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/The latest set of Official Statistics was released on 11 November 2015 and covers all decisions made to 30 June 2015.Guidance on how to extract the information required from Stat-Xplore can be found at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started---SuperWEB2.htmlThe latest set of Official Statistics on Income Support Lone Parent sanctions was released on 11 November 2015 and covers all decisions made to 30 June 2015. A summary of this data can be found herehttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/income-support-lone-parent-regime-figures-on-sanctions-and-work-focused-interviews--2

Guide Dogs

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy for people with support dogs of their rights physically to access businesses and services.

Justin Tomlinson: This government is working to ensure that employers and businesses realise the value of disabled people as employees and as customers.Under the Equality Act 2010 businesses that do not normally allow dogs to access to their premises must make reasonable adjustments to allow access for disabled people with assistance dogs. However, it is in the best interests of business to maximise access for all disabled people, including those supported by assistance dogs, to harness a share of the £212 billion spending power of disabled households.

Housing Benefit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the amount his Department will save as a result of limiting the backdating of housing benefit to a maximum of one month in each of the next four years; and how that estimate was calculated.

Justin Tomlinson: Although information is collected that would enable an estimate to be calculated, the variables in question have not be quality assured to sufficient standards to provide a response. To do so would result in disproportionate costs.

Housing Benefit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Question 18835, what alternative options will be available to single people claiming housing benefit who are under the age of 35 and are not able to afford a social tenancy from April 2018.

Justin Tomlinson: Discretionary Housing Payments will be available to help single people under 35 (claiming either housing benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit) if they need help transitioning to shared accommodation rate in April 2018.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will exempt adults with disabilities whose partner is unable to share the same bedroom due to that disability from the under-occupancy penalty.

Justin Tomlinson: The Courts recently accepted that disability in itself does not mean that couples are unable to share a bedroom and administering an exemption would be extremely challenging.Instead, to help people with difficult situations, the Government has provided additional Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) funding. Since the introduction of this policy DHP funding has been as follows:£180 million was provided in 2013/14£165million was provided in 2014/15 and £125 million in 2015/16.We have already announced a further £800 million in DHP funding for the next 5 years.

Housing Benefit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of housing benefit claims in respect of which a request for backdating was approved resulted in the payment of arrears for a period of (a) less than one month, (b) one month only, (b) between one and three months and (d) between three and six months in the most recent period for which figures are avilable.

Justin Tomlinson: Information on the number of Housing Benefit claims that were backdated is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

National Insurance

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people did not have a National Insurance number on 31 March 2015.

Priti Patel: Information is not available on how many people did not have a National Insurance Number (NINo) on 31 March 2015 because not everyone needs, or is entitled to a NINo.The majority of UK Nationals are allocated a NINo by HMRC when they approach age 16.DWP is responsible for allocating NINos to adults, which mainly affects adults entering the UK from abroad. A NINo is only allocated when an individual requires one for employment purposes, where the individual has a legal right to work in the UK, or if there is entitlement to a Social Security Benefit/ Tax Credit or in order to be awarded a Student Loan.

Housing Benefit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect removing the family premium from new claims for housing benefit the ability of claimants affected to move outside their local authority area in order to take up better paid work.

Justin Tomlinson: This policy alters just one premium added to Housing Benefit for working families: support continues through the Child Benefit disregard and for families in receipt of Child Tax Credits.

Housing Benefit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of limiting the backdating of housing benefit to a maximum of one month on (a) the ability of tenants to pay any rent arrears accrued after a delay in applying for housing benefit and (b) the willingness of landlords in the private rented sector to let properties to people claiming housing benefit.

Justin Tomlinson: There is no evidence to indicate that limiting the permitted backdating of housing benefit to a month will either increase rent arrears, or affect private landlords’ willingness to let properties to people claiming housing benefit.

Housing Benefit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his estimate is of the notional average weekly change in benefit which working families currently claiming housing benefit would face as a result of removing the family premium from the calculation of their housing benefit entitlement.

Justin Tomlinson: This policy only applies to new claims to Housing Benefit (HB), or those who have a first child while claiming HB. The impact for working families will not be as much as the premium itself because of the income taper, which reduces the impact on average to around £10.63 per week.

Work Programme

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many occasions work programme providers referred participants for a sanction between (a) June 2011 and November 2015 and (b) August 2015 and November 2015.

Priti Patel: The specific information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Work and Pensions: Pay

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of his Department's employees were paid (a) at the national minimum wage and (b) above the national minimum wage but below the voluntary living wage in each of the last five years.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP has paid its employees above the National Minimum Wage throughout the last five years.DWP has paid its employees above the voluntary living wage with the following exceptions:- A short period from October 2013 to June 2014, following the October 2013 uprating of the voluntary living wage rate. During that time 229 (less than 0.3%) DWP employees earned 1p per hour below the figure.- From November 2015 when the voluntary living wage rate was increased by 5.1%. Currently 1,145 (1.4%) employees earn between 4-21p less per hour than the uprated voluntary living wage figure.

Social Security Benefits

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of new claims for (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) employment and support allowance were made by (i) UK nationals and (ii) EU nationals from outside the UK in each of the last five years.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not available.

Employment

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of (a) UK nationals and (b) EU nationals from outside the UK are (i) in work, (ii) in receipt of jobseeker's allowance and (iii) in receipt of employment and support allowance.

Priti Patel: Statistics on employment of UK and EU nationals is already published by the Office for National Statistics. The latest information is available at:http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/december-2015/table-emp06.xlsInformation on benefit receipt by current nationality is not available. The department has published statistics on working age benefit recipients claiming within 6 months of National Insurance Number (NINO) registration. This information is known as “Nationality at point of National Insurance number registration of DWP benefit claimants” and is included in the “Statistical Bulletin on National Insurance Number Allocations to Adult Overseas Nationals.”. The latest benefits data, covering February 2015, is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/456074/nino-registrations-adult-overseas-nationals-june-2015.pdf

Work Programme

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times participants in the work programme were sanctioned between (a) June 2011 and November 2015 and (b) August 2015 and November 2015.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not available.The Department publishes Official Statistics on Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), sanctions, including those who have been sanctioned for failure to participate in the Work Programme and Employment Support Allowance (ESA) sanction decisions, for those who have been sanctioned for failure to participate in a work related activity, which will include the Work Programme, and these statistics are published via the following link:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/The latest set of Official Statistics was released on 11 November 2015 and covers all decisions made to 30 June 2015.Guidance on how to extract the information required from Stat-Xplore can be found at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started---SuperWEB2.html

Work and Health Programme

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much and what proportion of his Department's budget for employment support has been allocated to the Work and Health Programme for each of the next four years.

Priti Patel: In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a new Work and Health Programme to provide specialist support for claimants with health conditions or disabilities and those unemployed for over 2 years after current Work Programme and Work Choice contracts end.The Department is currently undertaking its normal prioritisation process to determine how funding secured at the Spending Review is allocated on an annual basis.

Employment and Support Allowance

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people, excluding people participating in the Work Programme, who were claiming employment and support allowance and were previously in receipt of incapacity benefit, ended their claim for employment and support allowance after moving into work during the most recent period for which figures are available.

Priti Patel: Detailed information on the reason for leaving Employment and Support Allowance is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 19711, what the number of such claimants was in (a) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Priti Patel: a) DWP does not hold data on the number of ESOL learning aims started by claimants in the 2010/11 academic year.b) The 2011/12 statistics can be found in Table 4 of the joint DWP-BIS ‘Further Education for Benefit Claimants: June 2013’ official statistics publication – see https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/further-education-for-benefit-claimants-june-2013.c) The 2012/13 statistics can be found in Table 4 of the joint DWP-BIS ‘Further Education for Benefit Claimants 2012 to 2013’ official statistics publication – see https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/further-education-for-benefit-claimants-2012-to-2013.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Disqualification

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobseekers allowance claimants in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland who have been sanctioned found work within six months of that sanction being imposed.

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance claimants in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland who have been sanctioned found work within six months of that sanction being imposed.

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobseeker's allowance claimants in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland who have been sanctioned found work within three months of that sanction being imposed.

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance claimants in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland who have been sanctioned found work within three months of that sanction being imposed.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.The information that is available, on the number of sanction referrals and adverse sanction decisions, in respect of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), is published and available at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/:Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started---SuperWEB2.htmlInformation for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at:http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications.htm

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to answer the letter to him from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 17 November 2015 with regard to Mr N Cooper.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP has no record of a letter received from the honourable Member regarding the individual named.

Welfare Reform and Work Bill

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 20080, by what date his Department will review all reports which relate to the Welfare Reform and Work Bill; and whether his Department will publish a response to or make a statement on those reports after completing that review.

Priti Patel: The Department continually monitors published reports in the public domain. This includes those which relate to policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which is currently being discussed in Committee in the House of Lords.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report entitled, Estimating the Early Labour Market Impacts of Universal Credit, published by his Department in December 2015, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of (a) the finding reported on page 27, that the additional work undertaken by participants in the study who were claiming universal credit is likely to consist of relatively few hours at relatively low wages and (b) the findings of the independent peer review, published in Annex B of the report, that the differences between the earnings of people in receipt of universal credit and people in the control group were not satisfactory significant.

Priti Patel: The main and most robust finding in the report is that UC has a substantial impact on the chances of people moving into work after they make a new claim. UC claimants were 8 percentage points more likely to get a job within 270 days of claiming than equivalent new claims to JSA made at the same time in similar areas by similar individuals.The report and the peer review also set out findings on earnings. These are consistent with the extra people in work and suggest that the policy is working by making it more worthwhile and easier for claimants to do small amounts of work. That is, UC ensures that all work pays.Most of the findings on earnings are statistically significant. As the report explains, we will be able to improve these estimates over time as we get more data.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 7 of the Government's response to the Fifth Report from the Work and Pensions Committee, on Benefit Sanctions: Beyond the Oakley Review, HC 557, when the Government plans to publish the results of its evaluation of the pilot programme of in-work sanctions.

Priti Patel: Following a successful Proof of Concept stage, national roll-out of the Universal Credit In-Work Progression Randomised Control Trial commenced from 7 December 2015. Recruitment into the trial will continue until the target sample of 15,000 in-work participants is achieved. We currently expect to reach this number by Autumn 2016, after which time the trial will continue to run for a period of 12 months. An evaluation report will follow in 2018.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of uprating the Minimum Income Floor for the self-employed on universal credit inline with the National Minimum Wage on the number of people moving into self-employment.

Priti Patel: An estimate of the overall impact on self-employment is not available. The Minimum Income Floor is intended to encourage those reporting very low self-employed income to increase their earnings either through increasing their earnings from self-employment, or through other employment.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, under what circumstances a person within one of the universal credit north west pathfinder jobcentres, who meets the eligibility criteria for universal credit under the pathfinder programme, may start a claim for jobseeker's allowance instead of universal credit.

Priti Patel: A person who meets the eligibility requirements for claiming Universal Credit (UC) anywhere in Great Britain where UC is available can claim contributory-only Jobseeker’s Allowance, either alongside a UC claim or on its own. If a person meets the conditions for claiming UC they cannot claim income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to answer Question 19086, tabled on 8 December 2015.

Justin Tomlinson: I have done so, on the 17 December 2015.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to reform the (a) work allowances and (b) taper rate within universal credit during the current Parliament.

Priti Patel: There are no plans to amend the work allowances and taper rates beyond those set out by the Government at the 2015 Autumn Statement.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 2.50 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, to which claimants the announcement of an extension of job search conditionality relates.

Priti Patel: By 2020 Universal Credit (UC) will extend support to over a million more claimants than under Jobseeker’s Allowance. The majority of people in this group are not in work and currently have no employment support available. A small proportion of the group may be earning very small amounts - less than the Administrative Earnings Threshold - and will benefit from the out of work support.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in each of the 11 pilot areas of universal support delivered locally (a) participated in that programme and (b) consented to have their information used for the purposes of evaluating that programme between September 2014 and September 2015.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to evaluate the Universal Support Delivered Locally programme on completion of the pilot study.

Priti Patel: The assessment of the Universal Support trials is currently underway. The final evaluation will be published in late Spring 2016 and this will include the numbers of those who participated in the trials and the evaluation.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he (a) submitted and (b) received a response to (i) the strategic outline business case and (ii) the outline business case for universal credit from HM Treasury.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects to submit the full business case for universal credit to HM Treasury; and when he expects final approval of that case to be granted.

Priti Patel: The Strategic Business Case was submitted and signed off by HMT in 2014. As HMT colleagues stated at the PAC on 7 December (link below) the Outline Business Case was approved in December 2015 and the Full Business Case will be submitted in 2017.http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmworpen/1082/1082.pdf

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people within each of the four Universal Credit North West Pathfinder jobcentres who meet the eligibility criteria for claiming universal credit under the Pathfinder programme have started a claim for jobseeker's allowance since the launch of universal credit in each of those jobcentres.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not available.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in which areas the digital service for universal credit is (a) in operation and (b) expected to be in operation by April 2016.

Priti Patel: The digital service is currently in operation in areas of Sutton, Croydon and London Bridge. Between January and April 2016 Hounslow, Musselburgh, Purley, Thornton Heath and Great Yarmouth will begin delivering the full Universal Credit service.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the six pilot areas for Universal Support Delivered Locally were selected for an additional six months extension from September 2015.

Priti Patel: Following discussions with the external evaluation team it was agreed that an extension would enable the gathering of more robust evidence.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's report, Universal Credit Extended Gateway Evaluation, published on 6 December 2015, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the report's finding on page 39, that participants in the study who were claiming universal credit were more flexible regarding the type of work they would consider at the outset than people claiming jobseeker's allowance.

Priti Patel: The research finding that Universal Credit claimants appeared to be more flexible regarding the type of work they would consider is broadly consistent with other findings from the same research report that indicate that UC claimants are more engaged with the labour market than their JSA counterparts. UC claimants are spending longer on job search per week, and Universal Credit appears to be driving more active labour market behaviour, resulting in better labour market outcomes.The key finding from another recently published report entitled, ‘Estimating the Early Labour Market Impacts of Universal Credit’, is that UC has a substantial impact on the chances of people moving into work after they make a new claim. UC claimants were 8 percentage points more likely to get a job within 270 days of claiming than equivalent new claims to JSA made at the same time in similar areas by similar individuals.

Universal Credit

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's report, Universal Credit Extended Gateway Evaluation, published on 6 December 2015, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report's finding on page 13, that 37 per cent of people claiming universal credit felt that their claimant commitment took account of their personal circumstances.

Priti Patel: The report shows that 85% of people claiming Universal Credit thought the Claimant Commitment took into account all or some of their personal circumstances. Of that, 37% thought that all of the requirements in their Claimant Commitment took into account their personal circumstances and an additional 48% felt that some of the requirements of their claimant commitment took their personal circumstances into account.Universal Credit is having a positive impact on claimants’ movements into work. Other recently published research, ‘Estimating the Early Labour Market Impacts of Universal Credit’, demonstrates that UC has a substantial impact on the chances of people moving into work after they make a new claim. UC claimants were 8 percentage points more likely to get a job within 270 days of claiming than equivalent new claims to JSA made at the same time in similar areas by similar individuals.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants have been provided with advance payments of universal credit in each of the last 12 months.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not currently available.The range of statistics published for Universal Credit has increased as quality assurance has been carried out. This process will continue on a wider range of breakdowns and Departmental statisticians anticipate being able to start releasing these, in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, during 2016.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Mental Health Services

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Question 19454, how many mental health specialists were employed by his Department in each of the last five years.

Mark Lancaster: The information requested is shown in the table below. The rounded figures are based on the Defence Medical Services manning returns for each year, and show the trained strength in each of the categories shown as at 1 October. Civilian numbers are not readily available prior to 2015.2011RegularReserveCivilianTotalPsychiatrist10~Not available20Psychologist--Not available-Mental Health Nurse12050Not available1602012Psychiatrist20~Not available20Psychologist--Not available-Mental Health Nurse12030Not available1502013Psychiatrist1010Not available20Psychologist~-Not available~Mental Health Nurse12050Not available1702014Psychiatrist10~Not available20Psychologist~-Not available~Mental Health Nurse12040Not available1602015Psychiatrist10~~20Psychologist~-2020Mental Health Nurse1104020*180*Mental Health Nurse (inc. Community Psychiatric Nurses)In accordance with Defence Statistics guidance, all figures are rounded to the nearest 10; numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias. Figures below 5 are denoted by ~; zero denoted by -.Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.

Defence: Finance

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the £2.1 billion Joint Security Fund allocation his Department will receive in each year up to 2020.

Michael Fallon: The annual profile of defence spending against the Joint Security Fund is subject to formal confirmation of the Spending Review settlement for all Departments which is expected shortly.

Defence: Finance

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what programmes he plans to fund from the Joint Security Fund; and how much each such programme will receive in each year up to 2020.

Michael Fallon: Decisions on programmes to be funded in part or in whole from the Joint Security Fund will be finalised on receipt of the Chancellor's formal Spending Review settlement for Departments expected shortly.

Military Aircraft

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the intelligence and surveillance technology components that will be retrofitted to Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft procured by his Department will be supplied by UK manufacturers.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 3 December 2015 in response to Question 17838.



Military Aircraft
(Word Document, 14.69 KB)

Royal School of Military Engineering

Kelly Tolhurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what consideration he has given to the duties under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 to conserve biodiversity with regards to the sale of the former Royal School of Military Engineering training site at Lodge Hill in Medway.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence takes its environmental responsibilities seriously and in preparation for the forthcoming Local Planning Inquiry is working closely with Medway Council, Natural England and other key stakeholders in carefully considering the potential effects on biodiversity of any proposed development at Lodge Hill.

Islamic State: Military Intervention

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Foreign Secretary of 16 December 2015, on Daesh: Syria/Iraq, if he will take steps to assess whether there have been civilian casualties as a result of UK airstrikes in Iraq and Syria through means other than receipt of reports.

Penny Mordaunt: We analyse the risks involved in any potential strikes in advance in order to minimise risks to civilians. Once a mission is launched, our aircrew assess and minimise risks prior to weapons being released. Every strike is subjected to careful post-mission scrutiny to confirm the aircrew's assessment, allowing us to examine in detail any claim of civilian casualties. We would publish any report which concluded that civilian casualties had resulted from UK military action.

Syria: Military Intervention

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people have been killed as a result of UK airstrikes in Syria since 3 December 2015.

Penny Mordaunt: We do not maintain total counts of enemy combatants killed in UK military action. We are not aware of any reports of civilian casualties resulting from UK air strikes in Syria since 3 December 2015.

Home Office

Immigration Bill: Scotland

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the residential tenancy provisions of the Immigration Bill would come into force in Scotland if enacted.

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Right to Rent Scheme for landlords to perform immigration checks on tenants will come into force in Scotland.

James Brokenshire: The Prime Minister made clear in his immigration speech of 21 May that the Government intends to roll out the Right to Rent scheme across the whole of the UK. The roll out is being taken forward in a phased manner. Having started in a part of the West Midlands, the next phase will extend the scheme across the rest of England as of 1 February 2016. The Government intends to roll out the scheme to the rest of the UK thereafter as part of the final phase. In relation to the provisions that relate to the private rented sector in the Immigration Bill 2015-16, the Bill also enables for these provisions to be enacted across Scotland at a later date.

Asylum: Deportation

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many removals from the UK under the Dublin Regulation there were in each year since 2005; and what information the Government holds on the number of such removals from other EU countries in each of those years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Children

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children seeking asylum have been referred by her Department to the Refugee Council Children's Section for advice in the last two years.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of age assessments for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have been completed within the new timetable for upon local authorities in each month since March 2015.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the rate of appeal was against age-assessments for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in each month since March 2010; and what proportion of such appeals were successful.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any unaccompanied asylum-seeking children from Albania have been returned to that country in the last year.

James Brokenshire: All unaccompanied asylum seeking children are referred to the Refugee Council’s panel of advisers.Age-assessments of unaccompanied asylum seeking children are conducted by local authorities. The guidance to local authority practitioners states that most assessments should be completed within 28 days, however the timescale for assessment should be responsive to the needs of the child or young person. The Home Office does not collect statistics on how many and what proportion are carried out within this timescale.Statistics on the number of age disputes raised and resolved for asylum applicants for each quarter from January 2010 to September 2015 are available on GOV.UK at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476915/asylum3-q3-2015-tabs.odsThe Home Office does not keep a record of the number of appeals against age assessments conducted by local authorities.Home Office policy is not to return unaccompanied asylum seeking children whose claim has been refused unless there are safe and adequate reception arrangements in place. Statistics on the number of children removed from the UK in 2014 are available on Gov.UK at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/476919/removals1-q3-2015-tabs.odsHowever, these statistics include all nationalities and non-asylum cases.

101 Calls: Standards

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average response time was for a 101 call in each year since that service's launch; and what the average response time was for 101 calls made to the Humberside Police from (a) North Lincolnshire and (b) East Yorkshire in the last 12 months.

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average response time was for a 999 call in each of the last 10 years; and what the average response time was for 999 calls made to the Humberside Police from (a) across the force area, (b) North Lincolnshire and (c) East Yorkshire in the last 12 months.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the average response times for 999 calls. Information on average 101 call waiting times since April 2014, provided by forces, including Humberside Police, can be found at: www.Police.ukThe Home Office does not hold information on call waiting times for individual forces which pre-dates April 2014 or about calls made to forces from local areas. This information is held by forces.

Asylum: Children

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have been age assessed while in detention in each of the last 12 months; and how such assessments were carried out by immigration officers.

James Brokenshire: The number of individuals who have been age assessed while in detention is not held centrally. Age assessments are carried out by the relevant local authority.Individuals whose age is disputed will only be considered for detention where:• there is credible and clear documentary evidence that they are 18 years of age or over• a full "Merton-compliant" age assessment by a local authority has been carried out and is available stating that they are 18 years of age or over• their physical appearance/demeanour very strongly suggests that they are significantly over 18 years of age and no other credible evidence exists to the contrary.Otherwise individuals are treated as children until a full age assessment has been conducted by a local authority and all available evidence has been duly considered. This includes victims or potential victims of human trafficking and the Modern Slavery Act 2015 places a presumption about age on a statutory footing when arrangements to assist a potential victim are being carried out.

National Crime Agency: Training

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many National Crime Agency officers have completed the digital awareness e-learning course, The internet and you.

Mr John Hayes: As of 16 December 2015, 3921 Officers have completed the eLearning “Internet and You”. The course forms part of a five stage programme for NCA staff who require detailed training in this area.

Asylum: Wigan

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with Serco on the housing of asylum seekers in Wigan.

James Brokenshire: Home Office officials monitor and conduct regular daily discussions with all COMPASS providers about management and execution of the contract, including the short-term use of contingency accommodation arrangements such as those employed by Serco in Wigan.Home Office officials have been very clear with its providers that all measures to increase procurement of suitable accommodation must be taken to ensure that accommodation consistently matches demand.

Gangmasters Licensing Authority: Finance

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will assess the need for any changes to the budget of the Gangmasters' Licensing Authority as part of in consideration of the responses to its consultation, Labour market exploitation: improving enforcement, published in October 2015.

Mike Penning: The consultation closed on 7 December. The Government is considering its response and, as part of that, the funding necessary for the GLA to operate effectively in the context of the departmental financial allocations following the recent Spending Review.

Action Fraud: Staff

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many call-handling staff are employed by the Action Fraud helpline; and how many of those employees were employed on (a) 1 May 2015 and (b) 1 November 2014.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many operational frontline staff are employed at the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau; and how many of those employees were employed on (a) 1 May 2015 and (b) 1 November 2014.

Mike Penning: With regards to the number of call-handling staff employed by the Action Fraud helpline:• As of December 2015 there were69.78 FTEs• As of May 2015 there were 81.92 FTEs• As of November 2014 there were 84.67 FTEsWith regards to the number of frontline staff employed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB): The NFIB is overseen by the City of London Police, it is not a public facing part of the Force, so does not employ any frontline staff.

Police: Training

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have successfully completed training courses on cyber-crime in the last (a) six and (b) 12 months.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many training courses on cyber-crime are provided for police officers.

Mike Penning: There are a number of training courses dealing with cyber crime available to police officers, for example, through the College of Policing and other external providers. The Home Office does not hold a central record of the number of such training courses. Furthermore, the Home Office does not hold a central record of how many police officers have completed training courses on cyber crime in the last six months or in the last year. However, the Government recognises that driving up cyber knowledge and capabilities at the local policing level is very important, that is why we are delivering training in cyber crime to officers in local police forces funded by the National Cyber Security Programme. The second phase of the Mainstream Cyber Crime Training course was launched on 30 September 2015 by College of Policing. This is a modular course consisting of a series of self-teach and interactive modules accessible to all police officers and staff, and which gives an introduction to how to recognise and investigate cyber crimes.Cyber Security, including combating cyber crime, is a top priority threat to national security. That is why we have invested over £90 million over the last five years to bolster the law enforcement response, and we will continue to invest. As the Chancellor announced on 17 November, we plan to almost double investment in cyber security, including cyber crime, to £1.9 billion over the next five years. This will enable us to continue to invest in training for police officers at the national, regional and local levels.

Human Trafficking: Victim Support Schemes

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that the level of mental health support available to victims of internal trafficking within the UK is equivalent to that available to victims of international human trafficking.

Karen Bradley: We are committed to ensuring that victims of modern slavery and trafficking receive the support they need. In terms of access to mental health services the provision for those trafficked internally is identical to that provided for those trafficked internationally.

Theft: Metals

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to coordinate investigations into lead thefts from places of worship (a) nationally and (b) regionally.

Mike Penning: It is not for the Home Office to coordinate investigations into thefts of lead from places of worship. It is for the police to respond to reports of such thefts and for the courts to impose appropriate sentences on those who commit these crimes. The Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 brought in a tough enforcement regime to tighten the net around rogue dealers who trade in stolen metal. Latest available statistics for 2014/15 show that 27,512 metal theft offences were recorded by police compared with 62,348 offences in 2012/13.

Demonstrations: Clothing

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 15775, on how many occasions since 2010 an authorisation under section 60AA of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 has been granted in each police force area in England and Wales; and for what purpose each such authorisation was granted.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not collect data on either the number of authorisations under section 60AA of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 or the reasons for granting such authorisations.

National Cyber Crime Unit and Regional Organised Crime Units: Staff

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff have been employed in (a) the National Crime Agency's National Cyber Crime Unit and (b) each of the nine Regional Organised Crime Units for each year from 2010 to date.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Stress

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have been absent from work due to stress-related illnesses in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold data centrally on the number of officers absent from work due to stress-related illnesses. The number of officers on long term absence at 31 March each year is collected, along with information on the number of officers on long term sickness. This is published annually by HMIC in their Value for Money profiles: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/our-work/value-for-money-inspections/value-for-money-profiles/These data do not allow the reasons for long term sickness to be identified.Chief Constables, working with directly elected police and crime commissioners, are responsible for managing the police workforce effectively and ensuring the welfare of all officers and staff.

Cybercrime: Publicity

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse is of the Government's Cyberstreetwise programme for (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Mike Penning: Cyber Streetwise is a cross Government campaign, developed by private and public stakeholder partners and coordinated by the Home Office’s Research, Insight and Communications Unit. It is designed to improve the online safety knowledge, behaviour and confidence of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and individuals; driving down crime, saving victims’ money and reinforcing perceptions of the UK as a safe place to do business. Since its launch in January 2014, approximately 2 million adults have adopted safer online behaviours that will better protect them. Our 2015/16 strategic approach aims to drive measurable shifts in three key behaviours: using strong passwords made up of three random words; installing security software on all devices; and regularly downloading software updates which experts agree will provide SMEs and individuals with the most protection against cyber-crime.The cost to of the Government of the Cyber Streetwise campaign for a) 2014/15 was £3.956 million (excluding VAT) and b) 2015/16 was £4 million (excluding VAT).

National Crime Agency: Voluntary Work

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many National Crime Agency specials with particular expertise in cyber-crime there are; and how many such people have been recruited since January 2015.

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cyber specials there are in police forces; and how many such people have been recruited since January 2015.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold specific data in relation to this issue. We have consulted with the National Crime Agency (NCA) in providing this response in relation to NCA figures. We have provided a response to the police force question using information provided by forces. This is not exhaustive and therefore may not reflect the full number of Cyber Specials in place. Cyber Specials can be either Special Constables or volunteers.There are 15 NCA Specials who have particular expertise in cyber crime. The NCA are also now recruiting a further seven. From the 15 in post now, 10 have been recruited since January 2015.There are at least 23 Cyber Specials in police forces across England and Wales. In addition, a further nine are currently being recruited. From the 23 in post now, at least four have been recruited since January 2015.

Asylum: Children

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the responses to her letter of 24 November 2015 to all local council leaders on the Dispersal of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: There have been a number of positive responses to the letter of 24 November, including concrete offers of support for Kent through the disperal of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children. We are clear that local authorities with the capacity to support Kent should do so. The Immigration Minister and the Children’s Minister chaired a round table meeting on 15 December with council leaders and directors of children’s services to consider what more can be done , and longer-term options for the dispersal of unaccompanied asylum seeking children. We hope the arrangements will remain voluntary and more local authorities will come forward. However, we have taken a reserve power in the Immigration Bill to underpin the voluntary power and act as a backstop power to mandate dispersal if the voluntary arrangements do not work.

Vetting

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were barred from working with (a) children and (b) vulnerable adults in each of the last five years; and how many of those decisions were (i) automatic bars due to a criminal conviction which did not allow for representations, (ii) automatic bars due to a criminal conviction which did allow for representations and (iii) discretionary bars.

Karen Bradley: Tables 1 and 2 show the number of people who were added to the Children’s and Adults’ Barred Lists in each of the last five calendar years.It is not possible to separate Autobar with or without representations before 2012. Some individuals are included in both the Children’s and Adults’ Barred list.In 2012, a ‘Test for Regulated Activity’ was introduced meaning that barring now applies only to those who are, have been, or will be working closely with vulnerable groups.



Children & Adults Barrred Lists
(Word Document, 14.92 KB)

Members: Correspondence

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Harrow West, sent on 25 November 2015, about the immigration applications of Ms Raize Khan, Miss Radia Khan and Miss Aneela Khan; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office replied to the hon. Member on 18 December 2015.

Home Office: Information Officers

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) her Department, (b) the Disclosure and Barring Service, (c) the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, (d) the Independent Police Complaints Commission, (e) the National Crime Agency, (f) the Security Industry Authority, (g) UK Visas and Immigration and (h) HM Inspectorate of Constabulary; how many of those employees earn more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mike Penning: The attached table shows the number of staff employed by the press office at 30 November 2015. It also shows the number of staff that cost the department over £50,000 and £100,000 and the total cost of the press office for 2014/15. The Home Office press office covers a wide remit including police, crime, counter-terrorism, extremism, Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, Her Majesty’s Passport Office, serious and organised crime as well as – from those agencies listed in the question – (f) the Security Industry Authority, and (g) UK Visas and Immigration. The department does not employ public relations staff. These costs to the department do not represent salaries earned. The press office operates 24 hours a day 365 days a year and the figures include weekend and on-call allowances, overtime as well as pension and national insurance costs. Across Government the government communications profession saved £330 million for taxpayers last year compared to 2009 to 2010 - by making its campaigns more cost effective.This means that we reduced communications spending by a total of £1 billion during the last Parliament.



Staff employed by the press office at 30/11/2015
(Word Document, 35 KB)

Temporary Exclusion Orders

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19916 on Temporary Exclusion Orders, when she expects that report to be published.

Mr John Hayes: No date has been set yet for the report to be published. The report on disruptive and investigatory powers, covering their use in 2014, was published on 4 November.

Asylum: Wigan

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many properties have been bought by Serco for the purpose of housing asylum seekers in each parliamentary constituency in the Wigan local authority area; and how many asylum seekers have been housed in each such constituency.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scotland Office

Carbon Emissions: Scotland

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2015 to Question 10602, on which dates he has held meetings with HM Treasury on the potential effects of a carbon price support exemption scheme in Scotland in the last year.

David Mundell: Since the Opencast Restoration issue arose I have raised this formally and informally on numerous occasions with Government colleagues. I can confirm that I met with the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury to discuss the Carbon Price Support Exemption Proposal specifically on 14 July 2015. I have not formally met with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss this issue. In addition, Scotland Office officials have raised this matter with DECC and HM Treasury colleagues.As the hon Member knows, I have taken a keen interest in this issue since it arose including attending the Industry Taskforce and meeting with him in his constituency office last year.

HM Treasury

Manufacturing Industries: Corporation Tax

Chi Onwurah: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 19258, if he will estimate the reduction in pounds in the amount of tax collected from the manufacturing sector as a consequence of reductions in the corporate tax rate.

Mr David Gauke: Over the course of the previous Parliament, the main rate of corporation tax was cut from 28% to 20%. The small profits rate was also cut to 20% and the two rates were merged to simplify the tax regime. Overall the cuts delivered since 2010 will save businesses £10bn a year from 2016-17. In this Parliament the Government is going to go further, and cut the rate to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020, further benefitting over one million companies across the economy.Given that a number of factors impact on tax receipts from individual sectors it is difficult to estimate precisely how much tax the manufacturing sector has saved as a result of these cuts in corporation tax. But according to HM Revenue and Customs’ corporation tax statistics, published at the link below, over the past five years the UK manufacturing sector has paid an average of £5bn a year in corporation tax. So it is clear that the sector will have benefitted substantially from the tax cuts delivered since 2010, and will benefit further from the reductions to come in this parliament.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/456459/Corporation_Tax_Statistics_August_2015.pdf

Non-domestic Rates

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings he has had on his Department's proposed review of business rates.

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which external organisations have contributed to his Department's review on business rates.

Mr David Gauke: The Government has held a range meetings with stakeholders and received a large number of submissions in response to the business rates review. The review will be fiscally neutral and will report at Budget 2016.

Balance of Trade

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the reasons for increases in the trade deficit in UK goods and services in the three months to October 2015.

Harriett Baldwin: The information requested can be obtained from the latest UK Trade publication which is available here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/uktrade/uk-trade/october-2015/stb-uk-trade--october-2015.html

Welfare Tax Credits

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.122 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of reducing the income rise disregard on the household income of a tax credit claimant family with one earner and two children whose income rose from £20,000 to £25,000 during the year.

Damian Hinds: Reducing the income rise disregard to £2,500 brings forward some of the benefits of Universal Credit, so that tax credit entitlement reflects claimant’s recent earnings. It makes the system fairer so claimants on similar incomes will receive similar awards. The effect of reducing the income rise disregard on a family claiming tax credits will depend on the household’s income level before it increased.

Insurance

Karl Turner: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2015 to Question 17980, if his Department will consider publishing details of meetings with insurance industry representatives before the next return.

Harriett Baldwin: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of companies and organisations to discuss relevant issues.As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury’s practice to provide details of all such discussions.

Income Tax: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in Northern Ireland currently in employment will not be paying Income Tax from April 2016.

Mr David Gauke: An estimate of the number of taxpayers in each year in Northern Ireland is published in the HMRC National Statistics publications Income Tax Liabilities Statistics, table 2.2 (page 5) which is available from the following address:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/429136/Table_2.2.pdfThese estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) outturn data up to 2012-13, and then projected to 2015-16 in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2015 economic and fiscal outlook.The projected number of taxpayer in Northern Ireland in 2016-17 and therefore the change from the 2015-16 projection are not currently available but are due to be published in May 2016.

Enterprise Zones

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a full list of each enterprise zone and the original date of its announcement.

Greg Hands: I set out in the table below the full list of Enterprise Zones together with the original date of announcement:Enterprise ZoneDate of announcementMersey WatersBlack CountryNottingham, Nottinghamshire Derby and DerbyshireBristol Temple Quarter EZLondon Royal DocksManchester Airport CityLeeds City RegionSheffield City RegionNorth East EZBirmingham City EZTees Valley23rd March 2011 Newquay AerohubSci-Tech DaresburySolent Enterprise ZoneMIRA Technology ParkHerefordDiscovery ParkHarlowScience Vale UKNorthampton WatersideAlconbury Enterprise CampusGreat Yarmouth and Lowestoft17th August 2011HumberLancashire29th November 2011Plymouth20th August 2015Blackpool Airport12th November 2015New EZsCeramics ValleyDorset GreenCarlisle KingsmoorM62 Corridor EZGreater Manchester Life ScienceLuton AirportYork CentralHillhouse Chemicals and EnergyCheshire and Warrington EZNew Anglia EZEZ NewhavenAylesbury ValeCambridge CompassDidcot Growth AcceleratorEnterprise M3Enviro-Tech Enterprise ZoneHeart of the South West Enterprise ZoneNorth East Round 2 EZAerohub (extension)Infinity Park Derby (extension)Humber EZ (extension)Tees Valley EZ (extension)Bristol Temple Quarter and Bath and Somer Valley (extension)North Kent Innovation Zone (extension)Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft EZ (extension)Birmingham Enterprise Zone Curzon St (extension)25th November 2015

Bridges: North West

Alison McGovern: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on making the discounts to the Mersey Gateway Bridge toll available to residents of the Wirral.

Greg Hands: The Department for Transport are looking at the Mersey Gateway local discount scheme following the Chancellor’s announcements earlier this year. An announcement will be made on the discount scheme in due course.

National Infrastructure Commission: Northern Ireland

Ruth Smeeth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress the Infrastructure Commission has made in its work as it relates to Northern Ireland.

Greg Hands: The National Infrastructure Commission has been established to provide expert impartial analysis of the UK’s long-term infrastructure needs. To do this the commission will conduct an infrastructure needs assessment every five years, with its findings articulated in the National Infrastructure Assessment. As part of the infrastructure needs assessment the commission will review areas of Northern Irish infrastructure that are the responsibility of the UK government, and its findings will be made public once the report is completed.

Stamp Duty Land Tax: Second Homes

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans that the three per cent additional stamp duty rate on the purchase of a second home will apply to people in the process of moving house who own two properties for a short period of time.

Mr David Gauke: In general, if, at the end of the day of a residential property transaction, a purchaser owns more than one property and has not replaced a main residence, the higher rates will apply. Where there is a temporary overlap between replacing and selling a main residence, the higher rates will apply but the purchaser will be entitled to a refund of the higher amounts on disposal of the previous main residence within 18 months.The Government is consulting on the policy detail, including on the treatment of difficult cases.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Andy Slaughter: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, by what mechanism any savings made by insurance companies as a result of a change to the small claims limit for soft tissue road traffic accident injuries will be passed on to policyholders.

Harriett Baldwin: The pricing of insurance products is a commercial matter for individual insurers in which the Government does not seek to intervene. The motor insurance market is intensely competitive and the Government therefore expects that the insurance industry will pass on savings to consumers.Some insurers have already committed to pass on all savings to consumers as a result of the proposed changes.

Debts

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent representations he has received about the level of household debt.

Harriett Baldwin: The government has taken action on household debt by establishing the independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England to ensure emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole are identified, monitored and effectively addressed.

Economic Situation

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effects on the economy of the level of (a) consumer borrowing and (b) personal loans.

Harriett Baldwin: Household debt as a proportion of income has fallen to 144% in Q2 2015, from a peak of 168% in Q1 2008. To avoid repeating the mistakes of the past we have created the independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England to ensure emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole are identified, monitored and effectively addressed.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Andy Slaughter: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential costs and benefits to business of changes to motor insurance proposed in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Harriett Baldwin: The Ministry of Justice will launch a public consultation in the New Year on the details of the policy.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Patrick Grady: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received about the work of Royal Bank of Scotland's Global Restructuring Group.

Patrick Grady: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) UK Financial Investments and (b) Royal Bank of Scotland about the effects of decisions by the bank's Global Restructuring Group on (i) small businesses and (ii) the economy of the UK.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government is aware of the reports published by Sir Andrew Large and, separately, by Dr Lawrence Tomlinson into Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)'s treatment of customers and businesses in financial difficulty.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has appointed Promontory Financial Group and Mazars to independently review the allegations in the reports against RBS's practices. If the findings from the review reveal issues which come within the FCA's remit, the FCA will consider further regulatory measures.The Government’s shareholding in RBS is managed at arm’s length from HM Treasury by UK Financial Investments (UKFI). However, UKFI’s role is to manage the investment, not the bank. Commercial affairs remain the responsibility of the bank’s independent management team.RBS is making progress to deal decisively with the problems of the past, which will allow it to become a simpler, safer and more focused bank that works for the UK economy. Under the leadership of Ross McEwan RBS has made good progress in becoming a simpler, safer and more focused bank that works for the UK economy.

Welfare Tax Credits

Clive Lewis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the contract between HM Revenue and Customs and Concentrix on compliance checks for tax credits includes payments by results.

Clive Lewis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the contract between HM Revenue and Customs and Concentrix on compliance checks for tax credits includes (a) the number of checks to be carried out, (b) the number of staff and (c) types of enforcement action.

Clive Lewis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information about applicants for tax credits is available to Concentrix under its contract with HM Revenue and Customs.

Clive Lewis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what grounds it was decided that compliance checks for tax credit applications would be outsourced to Concentrix.

Clive Lewis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the contract between HM Revenue and Customs and Concentrix was agreed.

Mr David Gauke: Reducing tax credits fraud and error is a top priority for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The contract with Concentrix offers additional capacity to help build on HMRC’s own work, which has reduced tax credits fraud and error to the lowest ever level. Using a private company provides a cost-effective way to reach additional claims that need checking.The checks are to ensure that people are paid the correct amount of money to prevent them from getting into debt which they may find difficult to repay and protect losses to taxpayers.Concentrix operate under the same powers and processes as HMRC. Concentrix select cases to be checked using information provided by HMRC. Concentrix decide how best to achieve the expected benefits, including the number and type of cases and number of staff employed. HMRC closely monitors their performance.The contract uses a payment by results model, which means Concentrix is only paid based on the money it saves the Exchequer as a result of correcting claims that are incorrect. They will not be paid if the decisions they make about claimants’ awards are incorrect.The contract was signed on 6 May 2014. The contract was awarded to Synnex-Concentrix UK Ltd in April 2014, following a procurement exercise advertised under the open procedure. Information about the contract value and contract award is already in the public domain.https://www.deltaesourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=97910033

Royal Bank of Scotland: Government Shareholding

Richard Burgon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what advice UKFI provided to his Department on when and how to complete a sale of Royal Bank of Scotland shares.

Richard Burgon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which organisations in addition to Rothschilds and the Governor of the Bank of England provided him with advice on whether the Government should sell its stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government has been consistently clear that its policy in respect of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to return the bank to the private sector in full. The advice received from Rothschilds and the Governor of the Bank of England relates specifically to the appropriate timing of an initial share sale.UK Financial Investments (UKFI) is responsible for the execution of share sales, and advised the Chancellor in August 2015 that it would be appropriate to conduct the first sale of the Government’s shareholding in RBS. On 3 August 2015, UKFI sold approximately 5.4% of the bank via an accelerated bookbuilding process.

Climate Change: Finance

Barry Gardiner: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he will take to ensure that the UK contribution to the $100 billion of climate finance referred to in the UNFCCC Paris Agreement conforms with Article 9, Paragraph 3 of the Agreement and is additional to the 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product that constitutes the Department for International Development budget.

Greg Hands: On 27 September 2015, the Prime Minister announced that the UK will provide at least £5.8bn of climate finance in the period 2016-17 to 2020-21, a 50% increase from the £3.87bn provided in the period 2011-12 to 2015-16. In line with Article 9, Paragraph 3 of the Paris Agreement, this therefore represents “a progression beyond previous efforts”. The UK will also take into account “the needs and priorities of developing countries” in the delivery of climate finance.The UK’s climate finance is within our commitment to provide 0.7% of Gross National Income as Official Development Assistance, recognising the strong inter-linkages between sustainable development and action to address and adapt to the effects of climate change.

Treasury: Information Officers

Diana Johnson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many press and public relations staff are employed by (a) National Savings and Investments, (b) the Government Internal Audit Agency, (c) the UK Debt Management Office, (d) the Office for Budget Responsibility, (e) the Crown Estate, (f) the FCA, (g) the National Infrastructure Commission, (h) the Payment Systems Regulator, (i) the Royal Mint, (j) UK Financial Investments Ltd and (k) HM Revenue and Customs; how many of those employees earn more than (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total expenditure was on press and public relations by each of those organisations in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Harriett Baldwin: The information requested is not held centrally. Details on staffing costs are available in the Annual Report and Accounts for the organisations referred to in the question.Across Government the government communications profession saved £330 million for taxpayers last year compared to 2009 to 2010 – by making its campaigns more cost effective.This means that this government reduced communications spending by a total of £1 billion during the last Parliament.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Electricity: Storage

John Mc Nally: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her policy is on the development of Compressed Air Energy Storage as a means of cost effectively delivering large-scale electricity storage.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department recognises the potential role that cost effective energy storage could play in contributing to a resilient, affordable and low carbon energy system in the UK, alongside other forms of flexibility such as interconnection and demand-side response. As such, we are investigating the potential barriers to the deployment of energy storage, including Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES). Our approach to storage policy is technology neutral; however, we recognise the potential for CAES in the UK, and we are in regular dialogue with prospective developers of new CAES projects.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the total (a) number and (b) payments made from feed-in tariff schemes in each year since 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The table below shows (a) the number of commissioned installations under the feed – in tariff scheme, and (b) generation payments made under the scheme:Generation payments (£)*Cumulative installations (at end March)**2010-1112,487,02947,7462011-12135,937,392319,0572012-13504,272,611430,4452013-14685,973,264545,2452014-15850,823,544683,462*Source; feed-in tariff annual report 2014-15https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/feed-in_tariff_annual_report_year_five_2014-15.pdf** Source; DECC feed-in tariff statisticsMonthly feed-in tariff commissioned installations by month - Publications - GOV.UK

Energy: Prices

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will bring forward proposals to regulate the energy market to allow residents to take their energy tariffs with them when they move property.

Andrea Leadsom: In many cases it is already possible for consumers to stay with the same supplier and tariff when they move property. Consumers should contact their supplier to check that the tariff is available for the property they are moving to as there are exceptions, for example if the new property has a different meter type.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: Public Expenditure

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the total projected expenditure on (a) the feed-in-tariff scheme, (b) contracts for difference, (c) the Renewable Heat Incentive and (d) the capacity market mechanism in each year between 2016 and 2021 on her Department's current estimate of wholesale prices.

Andrea Leadsom: The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) report, published alongside the Autumn Budget on 25 November includes projected expenditure on individual environmental levy schemes, as well as the Renewable Heat Incentive, as summarised in table 1 below. These are based on DECC’s current published estimates of wholesale prices, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/477625/Annex-m-price-growth-assumptions.xls.Table 1: November 2015 forecast of expenditure£ billion (nominal prices)2015-162016-172017-182018-192019-202020-21Feed-in Tariffs11.31.51.71.92.12.2Contracts for Difference0.00.20.51.12.22.8Renewable Heat Incentive0.420.640.780.901.011.15Capacity market0.00.00.00.61.01.1Note: 1. Forecasts do not include the outcome of the consultation on feed-in-tariffs.Source: OBR, November 2015. An updated set of LCF projections as well as the assumptions underpinning the latest forecasts will be published in due course.

Department of Energy and Climate Change: Public Expenditure

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what wholesale price and carbon price forecast scenarios her Department uses when forecasting total projected expenditure of the Levy Control Framework.

Andrea Leadsom: The assumptions on wholesale prices used in the LCF projections are consistent with the wholesale fossil fuel, electricity, and carbon prices scenarios published as part of the updated Energy and Emissions Projections in November this year, and are set out in Annex M available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/477625/Annex-m-price-growth-assumptions.xls

Energy: Meters

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many households in (a) Birmingham, Northfield constituency, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK have prepayment meters; and what the change in the number of such meters has been in each of those areas over the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: Data on methods of payment for domestic energy consumers are published in Quarterly Energy Prices, tables 2.4.2 and 2.5.2.This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/quarterly-domestic-energy-price-stastics .The tables below show the proportion of customers within the region using pre-payment meters for each year since 2010. Data is only available at the Public Electricity Supply (PES) region level.20102011201220132014ElectricityWest Midlands15.3%15.8%16.3%16.6%17.0%UK15.0%15.4%15.8%16.3%16.7%GasWest Midlands13.4%14.0%14.8%15.3%15.7%GB12.6%13.2%14.0%14.5%15.1%Data above are produced from a sample survey (DECC’s domestic fuel inquiry).

Carbon Sequestration: Finance

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects to be able to announce how carbon capture and storage research and deployment will be funded in future; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: Decisions on which technologies to support with research, development and demonstration funding will be made in due course, in the context of our agreed policy objectives, with a clear focus on targeting investment in areas of demonstrable market failure. A generating station connected to a complete CCS system is an eligible technology for Contracts for Difference under the Contract for Difference Regulations. Contracts for Difference for CCS are awarded on direction of my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State. Whether or not the Secretary of State would consider awarding a CfDs to a specific project would be subject to the circumstances at the time, including factors such as the value for money and affordability of a project and competing demands on available budgets.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she intends to answer the letter to her from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 5 November 2015 with regard to Ms J Batsleer.

Andrea Leadsom: I replied to the rt. hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on 23 December 2015, and I apologise for the delay in doing so.



Question 20692 - letters
(PDF Document, 337.56 KB)

Department for Energy and Climate Change: Information Officers

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many press or public relations officers are employed by (a) Ofgem, (b) the Oil and Gas Authority, (c) the Civil Nuclear Police Authority, (d) the Coal Authority, (e) the Committee on Climate Change and (f) the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority; how many of those staff earn more that (i) £50,000 and (ii) £100,000; and what the total cost is of running the press office in each of those organisations in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Andrea Leadsom: The most recent information for each of the bodies is:a) OfgemOfgem employs a small team of six press officers. The total cost of running the press office including pay, pensions and all other costswas £642,000 in the financial year April 2014 to Mar 2015.b) Oil and Gas AuthorityThe Oil and Gas Authority has a small communications and external affairs team, currently consisting of four staff. There is no dedicated press officer.For 2015/16 costs for this team (including IT, staff costs & necessary subscriptions) are projected to be c£203,000.c) Civil Nuclear Police AuthorityThe Civil Nuclear Constabularly/Civil Nuclear Police Authority employs a total of two members of staff: a Head of Engagement and Communications and one Communications Manager. It has no press or public relations officers. The only costs of running this small communications team are salary costs.d) Coal AuthorityThere are two members of staff (one of which is part-time) working on press and public relations in the Coal Authority. The only costs of running this team is salary cost plus £7,300 establishment costs for the year.e) Committee on Climate ChangeThere are two members of staff in the Committee on Climate Change Communications Team. The running costs of the team are salary costs plus other running costs (e.g. IT, website) of £18,934.f) Nuclear Decommissioning AuthorityThe Nuclear Decommissioning Authority does not have a press office. Two members of staff have responsibility for media relations as a substantive part of their role: the Head of Stakeholder Communications and Corporate Communications Manager.Given the small size of these teams, providing the information requested on salaries would enable individual members of staff to be identified. This information has not, therefore, been provided.

Electricity: Consumption

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what electricity consumption in England was in (a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) 2015.

Andrea Leadsom: Electricity consumption in England was 293 TWh in 2005, 276 TWh in 2010, and 255 TWh in 2014. Figures for 2015 will be published in due course.Data from “Electricity generation and supply figures for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England, 2004 to 2014”, Energy Trends, December 2015, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-december-2015-special-feature-article-electricity-generation-and-supply-figures-for-scotland-wales-northern-ireland-and-england-2.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department has assessed the potential use of gas-driven heat pumps as part of its review of the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department intends to expand the range of technologies available under the Renewable Heat Incentive as part of its process of reviewing the scheme.

Andrea Leadsom: We intend to reform the RHI to improve value for money and reduce costs; improve cost control and budget management; and explore the best way to support less able to pay households. Ofgem will continue to run the RHI under the current rules, while we consider the reform of the scheme. Officials have begun discussions with stakeholders, and we plan to consult on the changes early in 2016.

Energy: Storage

John Mc Nally: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans the Government has to (a) provide financial support and (b) conclude and sign long-term contracts prior to construction in order to achieve the capital investment in energy storage technology necessary to reach the 27.4 gigawatts identified in the Technology Innovation Needs Assessment.

Andrea Leadsom: The Technology Innovation Needs Assessment Summary Report on Electricity Networks and Storage, published by the Low Carbon Innovation Coordination Group in 2012, included an estimated range of 7 - 59GW for the potential level of energy storage which might be deployed in the UK by 2050.The Government recognises the potential for storage to help use energy more flexibly and to decarbonise the UK energy system cost effectively, alongside other flexible solutions such as interconnection and demand-side response (DSR). In light of this, more than £80m public sector controlled support has been committed to energy storage research, development and demonstration activities since 2012. Innovation is expected to help drive storage costs down further.DECC is investigating the potential barriers to deployment of energy storage and possible mitigating actions, focussing in the first instance on removing regulatory barriers but also considering whether more needs to be done to stimulate investment in energy storage. DECC will be publishing a call for evidence on this area shortly.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Grand Committee

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will meet the Leader of the House to discuss when the Government will next convene the Northern Ireland Grand Committee.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: I would be happy to meet my Rt hon Friend the Leader of the House to discuss convening a meeting of the Northern Ireland Grand Committee if there is cross-party support for me doing so.

Cross Border Cooperation: Republic of Ireland

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress she has made on the establishment of the Joint Agency Task Force on cross-jurisdictional organised crime.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: Following the Fresh Start Agreement I recently attended a tri-lateral cross-border Ministerial meeting along with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government. At the meeting we agreed new measures to enhance law enforcement co-operation aimed at tackling organised crime and criminality, including that linked to paramilitarism. In a concerted effort to tackle cross-jurisdictional organised crime, a Joint Agency Task Force has been announced by the United Kingdom Government, the Irish Government and the NI Executive.

Counter-terrorism: Northern Ireland

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent progress she has made on the establishment of the three person panel to build a strategy to disband paramilitary groups.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: Under the terms of the Fresh Start Agreement, it is for the Northern Ireland Executive to appoint the three person panel by the end of December 2015. The panel will have the task of bringing back to the Executive a report before the end of May 2016 with recommendations for a strategy to disband paramilitary groups. Before the end of June 2016, the Executive will publish an action plan including all of the above measures, together with timescales for implementation.

Northern Ireland Office: Brussels

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many visits Ministers have made to the Northern Ireland Office in Brussels since 2010.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: I have made one visit to the Northern Ireland Executive office in Brussels.

Northern Ireland Office: Secondment

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many officials in her Department have been seconded from outside Northern Ireland in each year since 2010.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: Since 2010, my Department has had two seconded staff from outside Northern Ireland, one from 2010-2011 and one from 2013-2015. Additionally, the Northern Ireland Office also has 13 staff on loan from other Government departments.

Fisheries: Northern Ireland

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland in advance of the EU Fisheries Council in December 2015.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: I had no direct discussions with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) in advance of the EU Fisheries Council in December as these matters fall within the remit of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).Preparation of the UK negotiating position in the lead up to the December Fisheries Council included discussions at both Ministerial and official level across all UK fisheries administrations, including DARD. This process also included discussion with representatives of the Northern Ireland fishing industry.

Stormont House Agreement

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress was made at the recent tri-lateral cross-border ministerial meeting on the Stormont House agreement; and what topics were discussed at that meeting.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The Ministerial tri-lateral on 21 December 2015 stemmed from a commitment made in ‘A Fresh Start – the Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan’. The meeting’s focus was on law enforcement co-operation aimed at tackling organised crime and criminality, including where this is linked to paramilitarism. Work continues on implementing all outstanding commitments from both the Fresh Start Agreement and the Stormont House Agreement of 2014.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animal Welfare Act 2006

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received on enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act in the last 12 months.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which bodies are responsible for enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

George Eustice: We have received several representations enquiring about various aspects of the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 over the last 12 months. They include representations on local authority powers under the 2006 Act and the ability of the RSPCA to bring forward prosecutions.

Greyhounds: Animal Welfare

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many greyhounds were euthanised at the end of their racing career in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 17 December 2015, PQ UIN 20014. The public consultation on the initial findings of the review of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 has now closed and Defra are currently considering the responses.

European Union Solidarity Fund: Floods

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will apply for EU Solidarity Funding for the damage caused by recent flooding.

Rory Stewart: We will consider all forms of support for those affected by the recent floods.However, the EU Solidarity Fund would not compensate for private losses. It would take several months to receive the majority of the funds and only provides for a fraction of the total costs of assessed damage. The Government is not ruling this out, but we need to act quickly and our immediate priority is to deal with the urgent needs of those affected.This is why the Government has opened the Bellwin scheme for Local Authorities affected by floods, with 100% of eligible costs to be met by the Government.On top of this, the Government is providing nearly £200 million of additional aid to support those affected by the floods in England.

Cats: Sales

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward amendments to regulations under the Pet Animals Act 1951 to include a ban on the sale of kittens in pet shops.

George Eustice: Under the Pet Animals Act 1951 local authorities can already apply conditions to individual pet shop licences. This includes, for example, restricting the species that can be sold. The power to apply conditions to an individual licence is in section 1(3) of the 1951 Act and is intended to help secure the welfare requirements set out in that section. We are currently reviewing animal establishment licensing which will include looking at the 1951 Act.

Darwin Initiative

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on the Darwin Initiative in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: The Darwin Initiative has funded biodiversity projects in developing countries since 1992 and is managed by Defra. Since 2011 it has been co-funded by Defra and the Department for International Development (DFID). The total expenditure on Darwin Initiative projects and running costs since 2010 is as follows:2010/11 - £6.1 million2011/12 - £4.3 million2012/13 - £5.7 million2013/14 - £6 million2014/15 - £6.9 millionDarwin Initiative funding from DFID can only be spent on projects which meet Official Development Assistance (ODA) criteria and this ODA expenditure (reported by calendar year) is as follows:2010 – Zero2011 - £2.4 million2012 - £2.4 million2013 - £3.1 million2014 - £5.3 millionDefra additionally manages the Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund (also known as Darwin Plus) which is co-funded by Defra, DFID and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The total expenditure since it was established in 2012 is as follows:2013/14 - £720,0002014/15 - £1.8 million

Forests

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of trees have been (a) felled and (b) replanted on Forestry Commission land in England in each year since 2000.

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much Forestry Commission England spent on replanting in each year since 2000.

Rory Stewart: The area felled in any one year on the public forest estate in England is not recorded separately, but the total area that has been felled and which is in the process of being either restocked, or being converted to another land use, such as open habitats for landscape or conservation reasons, is recorded. This is given in the table below, along with the area restocked each year and the expenditure on restocking operations.Year ending 31 MarchTotal felled area 1 (thousand hectares)Restocked area 2 (thousand hectares)Expenditure associated with restocking 3 (£ ,000s)20017.92.15,18120028.42.35,77920037.92.35,97920048.12.25,73520058.11.95,63520067.52.56,35620078.21.96,56220088.32.15,91520098.71.85,92420109.21.55,88020118.12.57,34020128.22.27,38420138.62.26,44820148.72.17,39920158.62.37,8841 ‘Felled area’ is the area of the public forest estate that is recorded as felled on the sub-compartment database, the Forestry Commission’s electronic record of current land use. Because there is generally a two to four year gap between felling and restocking, or the reclassification as another land use, the total area classified as ‘felled’ is significantly greater than that which is felled in any one year.2 ‘Restocked area’ is the area of the public forest estate that has previously been felled and which is recorded as having been restocked in the previous 12 months, including by natural regeneration and replanting.3 Expenditure associated with restocking is all money spent on activities directly attributed to restocking after felling, including preparation of the site and maintenance during the initial establishment phase.

Cats: Animal Breeding

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of the application in the UK of elements of best practice in regulation of commercial cat breeding in other EU member states.

George Eustice: There are no proposals to change legislation on cat breeding in this country. However, the welfare code is currently being updated so that modern standards are clear for anyone keeping cats.

Cats: Tagging

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to introduce compulsory microchipping of owned cats.

George Eustice: The Government encourages owners to microchip their cats. However, we do not consider that it is necessary to introduce compulsory microchipping of cats because the risks associated with stray cats are not as high as those associated with stray or displaced dogs.

Flood Control: Finance

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what organisations provide Flood Defence Partnership Funding; and how much each such organisation has invested.

Rory Stewart: We are investing £2.3 billion in 1,500 flood defence improvement schemes over the next six years - which is a record capital settlement for government. This will provide better protection to at least 300,000 households.In addition to this, we have identified £600 million of additional partnership funding. Six months into a six-year programme, £250 million has been secured and potential funding contributions to cover the remaining £350 million have been identified.Of the £250 million secured contributions, £61 million comes from the private sector and £189 million comes from Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and other public bodies.

Health Education

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has made to (a) Public Health England and (b) the Department of Health on the inclusion of (i) environmental criteria and (ii) the work of her Department's Green Food Project in the review of the Eat Well Plate.

George Eustice: The 2012 Green Food Project was a joint initiative between Government, the food and farming industry and environmental organisations.One piece of follow-up work to the Green Food Project was a group of stakeholders who came together in 2013 to develop principles for a healthy and sustainable diet. Public Health England and Department of Health were part of this working group. Its conclusion, ‘The Principles of Healthy and Sustainable Eating Patterns’ were published by the Global Food Security Programme in May this year. (http://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/assets/pdfs/healthy-sustainable-eating-patterns-report.pdf)

Livestock: Disease Control

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on proposals for an EU ban on the prophylactic treatment of groups of animals where no disease has been diagnosed in any of the animals as part of the review of the EU Veterinary Medicinal Products legislation.

George Eustice: The current compromise text of the proposal for an EU Regulation on the manufacture, placing on the market and use of medicated feed, states that “Medicated feed containing antibiotics shall not be used to prevent diseases in animals, or to enhance their performance.” However, a similar provision has not been included in the proposal for an EU Regulation on veterinary medicinal products.The Government’s policy is that the administration of antibiotics in the absence of disease is not a responsible way to use antibiotics. In groups of animals where some are sick and others have not developed clinical signs, the veterinary surgeon has to be free to use their clinical judgement to prescribe antibiotics to ensure animal welfare. This policy is being put forward during the current negotiations.

Neonicotinoids

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the process and timetable is for the European Food Safety Agency's review of its restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids; and what representations the UK has made on that review.

George Eustice: The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) recently completed the data collection phase of its review of restrictions on the use of neonicotinoids. EFSA has now been mandated by the Commission to deliver its conclusions by October 2016. The UK will contribute fully as it progresses. This is an important opportunity to produce an up-to-date assessment of this issue.In the UK, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology are undertaking comprehensive field trials which will help inform the review

Agriculture: Subsidies

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of levels of implementation of the greening requirements of the Basic Payment Scheme and its effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions and delivering improvements for pollinators and other wildlife in the farmed landscape.

George Eustice: We are in the final stages of processing 2015 BPS claims and making payments so it is too early to make an assessment of Greening implementation. However, an ex-ante assessment of the economic and environmental impacts of Greening in England, based on Defra’s Farm Business Survey, was published in the evidence annex to the Explanatory Memorandum which accompanied the Statutory Instrument 2014 No. 3259.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's priorities are for the next round of negotiations on CAP.

George Eustice: The European Commission’s current focus is on simplification of the CAP. UK Ministers are pressing the Commission and other Member States to be more ambitious in this exercise in order to reduce burdens and costs to farmers and administrators.Our priorities for the next round of CAP reform were set out in our manifesto. Our aim is to deliver a new agricultural policy which is simpler, which contributes to productivity and growth in the farming industry and which also delivers for the environment and improves animal welfare.

Department of Health

Health Services: Weather

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of the communication between Ministers and officials in his Department about NHS England's decision to change the amount of NHS performance data published the Winter Daily Situation Reports for 2015-16.

Jane Ellison: In line with previous requests of this nature, copies of communications on this issue are not proposed to be placed in the Library, as all communications from officials were for the purpose of providing advice to ministers for their consideration and deliberation. Releasing this information would be likely to inhibit the continued free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation.Based on clinical advice from the NHS England National Medical Director Sir Bruce Keogh, the Secretary of State agreed with the recommendation to standardise reporting arrangements. The recommendation came from Sir Bruce Keogh’s review of waiting time standards published in June 2015. The overall approach was agreed in September by the respective chief executives of NHS England, TDA and Monitor with the Secretary of State for Health.

Department of Health: Visits Abroad

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who he was accompanied by at a cost to the public purse on each of his official overseas trips since his appointment.

Jane Ellison: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State is generally accompanied by an official from the Department and/or a member of staff from his private office when he is travelling on official business.

General Practitioners: Business Premises

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department or NHS England holds on the number and proportion of GP premises that have been refurbished or replaced since May 2010.

Alistair Burt: The NHS (General Medical Services - Premises Costs) Directions 2013 set out the circumstances under which NHS England may provide funding for general practitioner (GP) premises. NHS England does not provide funding for all refurbishments and replacements, and in some cases such works may be carried out by third party owners. As such neither the Department nor NHS England hold information on the number or proportion of GP premises that have been refurbished or replaced since May 2010.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) outpatient appointments and (b) elective operations took place in England in each week of 2014-15.

Jane Ellison: The information is shown in the following table.Number of outpatient appointments and finished admission episodes (FAEs) with an elective main procedure by week in 2014-15 in England.Week NumberDateOutpatient appointmentsFAEs with an elective procedure106 April 20142,074,064152,037213 April 20141,715,345125,191320 April 20141,722,450125,185427 April 20142,181,289156,085504 May 20141,782,607129,711611 May 20142,201,615155,936718 May 20142,154,486153,252825 May 20141,615,198123,484901 June 20142,175,157153,4961008 June 20142,134,887153,8261115 June 20142,128,058151,5081222 June 20142,090,872153,9151329 June 20142,091,790152,0981406 July 20142,108,843150,7211513 July 20142,079,438150,1661620 July 20142,052,164151,1641727 July 20141,963,411145,6411803 August 20141,985,519145,2541910 August 20142,017,505145,9122017 August 20141,981,831145,8732124 August 20141,599,651122,1842231 August 20142,121,461149,5632307 September 20142,118,810150,0242414 September 20142,107,008150,7272521 September 20142,142,081153,7902628 September 20142,147,352152,7512705 October 20142,174,051153,8182812 October 20142,183,576154,9772919 October 20142,126,467154,3313026 October 20141,968,069147,6583102 November 20142,215,685157,2873209 November 20142,211,873158,7723316 November 20142,190,637160,2053423 November 20142,185,994159,3043530 November 20142,210,964159,3593607 December 20142,210,624157,5253714 December 20142,223,306156,0813821 December 20141,038,84176,8423928 December 20141,175,84987,7904004 January 20152,254,400147,2334111 January 20152,245,845155,2774218 January 20152,208,941156,6424325 January 20152,154,520156,8414401 February 20152,192,970158,3334508 February 20152,198,622160,3764615 February 20151,980,011151,4614722 February 20152,199,551161,5464801 March 20152,196,041161,1444908 March 20152,172,174160,7075015 March 20152,141,290158,4235122 March 20152,106,928160,0915229 March 20152,528,302185,415England Total107,188,4237,756,932Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information CentreNotes:Includes activity in English NHS hospital trusts and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.Outpatient appointments are the number of booked appointments for outpatients, whether they were attended or not.Finished admission episodes (FAEs) are the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.A main procedure is the first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures.

Carers: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Local Transformation Plan local areas' plans in improving support for young carers and young adult carers.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to publish statistics on the number of (a) young carers accessing children and adolescence mental health services (CAMHS) and (b) children provided with young carers assessments following contact with CAMHS.

Alistair Burt: The number of young carers accessing Children and Adolescence Mental health Services (CAMHS) and the number of children provided with young carers assessments following contact with CAMHS will not be published as this data is not collected centrally.Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), working with local partners, have submitted Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) to transform their local offer for children and young people’s mental health. These plans must cover the whole spectrum of services from prevention to intervention for emerging or existing mental health problems and address the full spectrum of need, including the most vulnerable, such as young carers.NHS England have received and successfully assured LTPs that cover every clinical CCG in England. This assurance process requires local areas to evidence how they are meeting the needs of vulnerable groups which may include young carers. Young adult carers are unlikely to be covered by these LTPs as these are generally the responsibility of adult mental health services. All CCGs will have received the funding allocation agreed through the assurance process by the end of December (published in January).

NHS

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will reopen his Department's consultation on the proposed NHS mandate.

George Freeman: Each year the Government aims to publish the mandate to NHS England before Christmas, in order to allow the NHS sufficient time to plan before the new financial year. The mandate to NHS England 2016-17 was laid before Parliament and published on Thursday 17 December 2015. Alongside it, the Government published its response to the consultation, explaining what we heard and how the mandate has changed as a result.The Government is therefore unable to reopen the consultation on the mandate to NHS England.

Blood: Contamination

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the consultation on payment of compensation out of the his Department's contingency fund for those who have suffered from the contaminated bloods issue will report.

Jane Ellison: Liability has not been established in the majority of cases of individuals infected with hepatitis C and/or HIV through NHS-supplied blood or blood products, so it would not be appropriate to talk about support payments in terms of compensation.I announced in the House of Commons on 16 December 2015, in response to an Urgent Question, Official Report, columns 1555-1565, that the consultation on reforming the current payment schemes for those infected with hepatitis C and/or HIV through NHS-supplied blood or blood products will be announced later this month.

NHS: Fees and Charges

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which years are included in his Department's consultation on the annual registration fee that local health trusts pay to the Care Quality Commission.

Ben Gummer: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is consulting on its fee levels from 2016-17 to move it to a full chargeable cost recovery position by either 2018 or 2020. The Department is consulting on a regulation that will bring the CQC’s new comprehensive inspections which look beyond compliance with registration and any associated rating within the scope of its fee raising power. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the regulation will come into force from 2016-17 onwards.

Tobacco: Packaging

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of putting health warnings on cigarette packaging in different languages as well as English.

Jane Ellison: No assessment has been made of the putting health warnings on cigarette packaging in different languages as well as English. The labelling of tobacco products is harmonised at European Union level and mandates that the official language of the Member State is used on health warnings for tobacco. In the United Kingdom the official language is English.Local Stop Smoking Services may choose to publish smoking cessation materials in a range of languages if they consider it beneficial to the local population.

Blood: Contamination

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 19004, what steps he has taken to communicate with people affected by contaminated blood products on the timing of the consultation.

Jane Ellison: An update on the timing of the consultation was provided during an Urgent Question on 16 December 2015, Official Report, columns 1555-1565. I updated the members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood on the progress of the consultation at a meeting in November. A note of this meeting was published on the Haemophilia Society website.It is anticipated that the consultation will be published and an announcement made, in January 2016. The Department will be communicating this to all affected individuals and those with an interest. The details of the consultation will be published on the gov.uk website, including details of how those who are interested may provide a response.

Midwives: Recruitment

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received from NHS trusts in England and Wales on the adequacy of midwife recruitment in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: No representation from NHS trusts about the adequacy of midwife recruitment has been received in the last 12 months.

Hospital Beds

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups have put in place plans for delayed discharges in co-operation with their local independent sector partners.

Alistair Burt: This would be a matter for individual clinical commissioning groups, who are responsible for commissioning care that is underpinned by knowledge of local health care needs. As such we do not hold this information centrally.

Health Services: Weather

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance he has issued to clinical commissioning groups on cataloguing vacant beds within (a) the community, (b) respite care, (c) care homes and (d) nursing homes in order to cope with additional demand over the winter period.

Alistair Burt: Although there has been no formal guidance issued specifically regarding cataloguing vacant beds within the community, respite care, care homes and nursing homes in order to cope with additional demand over the winter period, there have however been a number of related communications issued, set out below:- The ‘Quick Guide: Identifying local care home placements’ (www.nhs.uk/quickguides) was published in October 2015. This provides some guidance and a possible template that local health and care systems could use to better understand the services which the care home providers offer, to enable better and more effective placements. It covers both residential and nursing care homes.- Safer Faster Better (published in August 2015), which is designed to help frontline providers and commissioners deliver safer, faster and better urgent and emergency care, includes material on managing flow within Urgent Emergency Care (EAC). This does not provide guidance on ‘cataloguing beds’, but bed management forms part of the guidance.- A ‘bed census’ was conducted in June 2015 across all staffed beds available in NHS and associated providers in order to better understand total capacity available. This included bed definitions, but did not provide guidance to clinical commissioning groups on ‘cataloguing beds’.- There have been a number of ad hoc data collections conducted throughout the year on capacity information across local health economies, which captured numbers of nursing, residential dementia, and Specialist EMI (Elderly Mentally Infirm) beds. But these were collections of management information, and did not provide guidance on ‘cataloguing beds’.

Department of Health: Freedom of Information

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department's response of 16 December 2015, reference DE000001003266, to the Freedom of Information request made by the hon. Member for Lichfield on 18 November 2014 regarding that Member's meeting with the Minister for Public Health at the Department of Health at 2pm on 1 December 2014, for how long the notes taken by officials at that meeting were retained.

Jane Ellison: Notes of ministerial meetings are retained as long as business needs require. It is not known how long any notes taken at the meeting in question were retained. However, a previous Freedom of Information request asked for the note of this meeting and was answered on the 23 June 2015 and that any notes taken were not available by that date.

Department of Health: Bus Services

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department spent on bus services in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The Department does not hold the information requested. Spend on bus services is not recorded separately within the Department’s accounts.

Female Genital Mutilation

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Question 19355, when specialist female genital mutilation mental health e-learning is planned to become available to NHS professionals.

Jane Ellison: As part of its £3 million national Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Prevention Programme, the Department commissioned Health Education England to develop specialist FGM mental health e-learning, which will be provided free to all NHS professionals. Existing mental health training materials are also being updated by Health Education England to support awareness and recognition by health professionals of the impact of FGM on mental health. We aim to launch these materials by the end of March 2016.

Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 19044, which (a) voluntary sector organisations and (b) local areas Public Health England is working with to make sure there is effective distribution of the Help is at Hand publication.

Alistair Burt: Public Health England (PHE) has been working through the Suicide Bereavement Support Partnership, which includes voluntary organisations that provide support for people bereaved or affected by suicide to support effective distribution of ‘Help is at Hand’.Our guidance for developing a local suicide prevention action plan encourages local authorities to ensure that ‘Help is at Hand’ is distributed to friends, family, first responders and the local community. Each of our local PHE Centres is aware of this guidance and available to support.

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 19043, what steps he is taking to address the increase in the number of people sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983 since 2010.

Alistair Burt: The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) report Monitoring the Mental Health Act 2014/15 suggests 3 possible reasons for the upward trend in reported use of detention:- Increased awareness of the need to ensure a patient’s legal status is clear and that their rights are protected, leading to changes in professional practice;- Changes to the way community services are being delivered; and- Some of the increase may be explained by an increasing number of healthcare providers submitting reports to the national datasets.All uses of the Act represent a loss of liberty and increased restriction for individuals, so both policy makers and local services need to understand the reasons for any rises in detentions and what the appropriate response may be.The Department, together with CQC, are planning focused activity for early 2016 to look at the reasons behind variation in the use of detention between local areas. We will use the findings to support local services and national policy makers to identify changes that need to be made at a local and national level.

Congenital Abnormalities

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidelines his Department issues on notifying parents of (a) Downs syndrome and (b) other chromosomal disorders.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) nurses and (b) healthcare assistants have undergone training for notifying parents that their baby has Down's syndrome.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what training is given to healthcare practitioners for notifying parents that their baby has Down's syndrome.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of healthcare practitioners involved in notifying parents that their baby has Down's syndrome who have not received relevant specialist training.

Ben Gummer: It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricular to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes ensuring healthcare professionals have the appropriate skills to effectively and sensitively communicate with patients or their family members.Providers of Care Quality Commission regulated services are required to ensure that their staff have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience which are necessary for the work to be performed by them. If they work regularly with people with learning disabilities, they will be expected to have sufficient knowledge of that subject area.The Care Certificate, which was introduced in April 2015, is helping NHS service providers to ensure that their new healthcare assistants have the right fundamental skills and knowledge, including in communication and awareness of learning disability.Healthcare providers also have a duty to invest in the training and education of their staff. Health Education England will work with healthcare providers to ensure that the continuing personal and professional development of staff continues beyond the end of formal training to enable staff to deliver safe and high quality healthcare and public health services both now and in the future.The Department does not issue guidance on how healthcare professionals should communicate specific information, or collect data on staff that have received specific communication training. Which staff have certain responsibilities, for example notifying parents that their baby has Downs Syndrome, will be determined by their employer as part of agreeing their job role.

Social Workers: Temporary Employment

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2015 to Question 16660, what checks are made on locum social workers.

Alistair Burt: The duty to ensure that specific checks have been undertaken for locum social workers lies with the employer.To work as a social worker in England, an individual must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. Registration and its maintenance demonstrate that an individual is fit to practice.Social workers working in roles that meet the definition of regulated activity are eligible for an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check which would include a check of the adult’s barred list and may include a check of the children’s barred list if appropriate to the job role.Providers of regulated health and adult social care services must be registered with the Care Quality Commission and comply with the fundamental standards, including those relating to the employment of fit and proper persons.

Care Homes: CCTV

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's policy is on the introduction of CCTV in private care homes.

Alistair Burt: The abuse or neglect of vulnerable people is deplorable. We have strengthened the powers of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to prosecute providers for unacceptable care, including abuse.The Government believes strongly that closed circuit television (CCTV) should not be regarded as a substitute for proper recruitment procedures, training, management and support of care staff, or for ensuring that numbers of staff on duty are sufficient to meet the needs of users of services.It is a legal requirement that care providers must ensure that the safety, welfare, privacy and dignity of service users at all times. The Government considers that the widespread introduction of CCTV into care homes would raise important concerns about privacy, as well as practicality.The use of CCTV and other forms of covert surveillance should not be routine, but should be considered on a case by case basis. The Department does not object to the use of CCTV in individual care homes or by the families of residents, provided it is done in consultation with and with the permission of those residents and their families.The CQC has published guidance for care homes and the families of residents on the issues that should be taken into account when deciding whether or not to use CCTV or other forms of covert surveillance. The guidance is available on CQC’s website at:http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/using-surveillance-information-service-providers

Medical Treatments: EU Countries

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the proportion of the budgets European healthcare systems spent on (a) cancer and (b) other drug treatments in each of the last five years.

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the proportion of the budgets European healthcare systems spent on (a) generic and (b) branded cancer medicines for each of the last five years.

George Freeman: Information relating to other European healthcare systems is not available in the format requested.

Medical Treatments: Expenditure

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the NHS budget was spent on (a) cancer drug treatments and (b) other treatments in each of the last five years.

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the NHS budget was spent on (a) generic and (b) branded cancer medicines for each of the last five years.

George Freeman: Information on National Health Service expenditure and expenditure on branded and generic cancer drugs is provided in the table. Information on the cost of other non-drug treatments for cancer is not held in the format requested.Proportions have not been provided as the information on cancer drug expenditure may not represent what was actually paid for the drugs by the NHS. The net ingredient cost shown for drugs in primary care is the basic cost of a drug. It does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income. The cost of secondary care drugs is the cost at NHS list price and will not necessarily be the price the hospital paid.YearTotal NHS revenue expenditure – outturn (£ million)Cancer drugs expenditure – primary care (£ million) 1Cancer drugs1 expenditure – secondary care (£ million) 1Total cancer drugs1 expenditure (£ million) 1,2BrandedGenericTotalBrandedGenericTotal2010-1197,469207212286402068461,0742011-12100,266136541907102479571,1482012-13102,570122201428742451,1181,2602013-14106,495121221431,0782621,3401,4832014-15110,554120271471,3143001,6141,761Source: Department of Health: Prescription Cost Analysis and IMS Health: Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.Notes: 1 as classified in British National Formulary section 8.1 Cytotoxic drugs, section 8.3 Sex hormones and hormone antagonists in malignant disease, paragraph 8.2.3 Anti-lymphocyte monoclonal antibodies (but also used in other indications) and paragraph 8.2.4 Other immunomodulating drugs (interferon-alfa, aldesleukin, bacillus calmette-guerin, lenalidomide, pomalidomide, thalidomide and mifamurtide only).2 Total figures may not sum due to rounding.

Diseases

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost is to the public purse of Deloittes' consultancy services on helping to develop commissioning policies for drugs to treat ultra-rare diseases.

George Freeman: There is no contract with Deloittes’ consultancy services for developing policies for drugs to treat ultra-rare diseases.However, as part of NHS England’s wider responsibilities to directly commission specialised services, NHS England has a significant clinical commissioning policy work programme which enables the development and publication of fair and equitable eligibility criteria for specialised treatments for patients across England, based on a review of the latest evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness.In order to provide support to this programme, NHS England awarded a contract to Deloitte in September 2015 to provide support to the lead clinicians and patients undertaking this work. The level of support, analysis and review work varies, but the cost of developing a policy from start to finish, using the support of the Deloitte contract, is around £33,000.Deloitte will not be making any decisions on NHS England’s commissioning policies, accessing any patient or commercially sensitive data or accessing any privileged information about specific drugs or treatments. Furthermore, all policies, whether developed solely with support from NHS England staff, or with project support from Deloitte, will be subject to the same assurance and scrutiny requirements and will considered for adoption in the same way by NHS England.

Hepatitis

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Hepatitis C Improvement Framework will be published and whether that framework will contain guidance to commissioners on increasing patient access to new Direct Acting Antiviral treatments that have been approved by NICE.

Jane Ellison: A date for publication of the hepatitis C Improvement Framework has not yet been set. Public Health England continues working with NHS England and Operational Delivery Networks to establish a process of monitoring hepatitis C treatment access and uptake.New Direct Acting Antiviral treatments have been available to patients meeting the criteria of the NHS England policy for the treatment of cirrhosis since June 2015. These patients have access ahead of the implementation of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisals (TAs).Access has also been made available to patients meeting the criteria set out in the NICE TAs for simeprevir (May 2015) and sofosbuvir (August 2015). Access to three new treatments will be available from 23 February 2016 for patients (dependent on treatment type and treatment history) without cirrhosis.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the circumstances in which there should be an investigation into mental health outpatients who have an avoidable death.

Alistair Burt: The NHS policy on when to initiate an investigation is set out in the NHS Serious Incident Framework, published in March 2015 and available at:https://www.england.nhs.uk/patientsafety/serious-incidentThis has an improved focus on family contact; the importance of learning from deaths and, governance issues including the need for investigations to be undertaken by staff separate from the commissioning and provider organisations.It states that any unexpected or avoidable death, including those as a result of suicide or a self-inflicted death, should be investigated and where multiple providers are involved in the care of an individual, the organisation that identifies the serious incident that results in the death is responsible for recognising the need to alert other providers, commissioners and partner organisations as required in order to initiate discussions about subsequent action.All organisations and agencies involved should work together to undertake one single investigation wherever this is possible and appropriate.

Mortality Rates

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of (a) GPs and (b) clinical commissioning groups have plans in place to identify unavoidable deaths.

Alistair Burt: The question asked about ‘unavoidable deaths’. Data on the proportion of general practitioners (GPs) and clinical commissioning groups that have plans in place to identify unavoidable deaths is not collected centrally.

Mortality Rates

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Care Quality Commission on collection and publication of data on mortality rates of over 75s in mental health trusts.

Alistair Burt: The Department’s ministers and officials meet with representatives of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues, including mental health.Currently, the CQC monitors various aspects of the mortality rate for over 75s. This age threshold was applied to take account of age within the analysis of indicators which relate to deaths that may have resulted from physical health problems, given that deaths due to natural causes are likely to increase with age.The CQC are planning further work in 2016 to develop its approach to monitoring mortality among people in contact with trusts that provide mental health services.

General Practitioners: Northamptonshire

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many practising GPs there were in Northamptonshire in (a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) 2015.

Alistair Burt: Data is not available in the format requested. 2014 is the most recent year for which data is available. The attached tables show the number of practising general practitioners (GPs), both including and excluding retainers and registrars, in Northamptonshire in 2005, 2010 and 2014.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answers of 16 December 2015 to Question 19441 and 20 November 2015 to Question 16648, what the reason is for the apparent difference in the data collection policies on local clinical commissioning groups' spend with independent sector providers described in those Answers.

Alistair Burt: This corrects the answers to Questions 16648 and 19441. This was the result of a miscommunication between NHS England and the Department. The total NHS expenditure on non-NHS providers is collected centrally, and is published on page 47 of the Department’s annual report, available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447002/DH_accounts_14-15_web.pdfThis report divides providers by type (i.e. independent sector providers, voluntary organisations) – it does not specify the different types of services provided.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with serious mental health issues are receiving appropriate physical health care.

Alistair Burt: We are committed to ensuring that the physical health of people with serious mental health issues is treated in the same way as the rest of the population.The delivery of physical checks and interventions to individuals with a serious mental health problem who are in NHS commissioned inpatient settings is now incentivised via a national Commissioning for Quality and Innovation indicator. Any needs identified by these health checks are met with the necessary interventions or referral to another clinician for assessment diagnosis and treatment.With other initiatives undertaken by NHS England and its partners, which include making information accessible to the public on the availability of health checks and supporting the development and rollout of tools and guidance to improve physical health assessment in primary care, we will continue to increase access to the same health initiatives that benefit the general population. This will support improved health outcomes and reductions in unnecessary emergency and unplanned physical care for people with a serious mental health issue.

NHS: Negligence

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to consult the Justice Select Committee on introducing a new streamlined claims process for low cost medical negligence claims.

Ben Gummer: The Department is leading the consultation on Fixed Recoverable Costs for low-value clinical negligence claims and there will be a full public consultation, which will be open to all interested parties to make representations.

*No heading*

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how the proposed council tax levy for social care will support integration of health and social care.

Alistair Burt: The Government is committed to delivering more person-centred care through programmes such as the Better Care Fund, the Integrated Care Pioneers and the Vanguards. The proposed council tax levy gives councils the flexibility to raise additional funds. Councils can also voluntarily invest additional funds in programmes if they wish.

*No heading*

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve one-year cancer survival rates over the next five years.

Jane Ellison: We want to lead the world in fighting cancer. Survival rates have never been higher, but we want to go further. In England, the independent Cancer Taskforce’s five-year strategy for cancer, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, published in July 2015, recommends improvements across the cancer pathway with the aim of improving survival rates.Updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence referral guidelines for suspected cancer could save about 5,000 lives with general practitioners urged to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold for tests. Whilst health is, of course, a devolved matter, we know that these guidelines are often used by the devolved administrations.

*No heading*

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to achieve seven-day services in hospitals by 2020.

Ben Gummer: By 2020, all hospital patients who need urgent or emergency care will have access to the same levels of consultant assessment and review, diagnostic tests and consultant-led interventions, whatever day of the week it is.

*No heading*

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that implementation of European Professional Cards for doctors does not inhibit his Department's ability to perform background checks on doctors from other European countries.

Ben Gummer: The European Professional Card (EPC) will not be introduced for doctors until 2018 at the earliest.The European Commission will review the effectiveness of the EPC process for the first wave of professions, which includes nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists, before any decision is taken to extend the EPC to other professions.

*No heading*

James Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission a review of portion sizes to inform the food industry and consumers about what constitutes a healthy portion.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England’s recent report, Sugar Reduction: The evidence for action, highlights that portion sizes have been increasing over time and that this results in more calories being consumed. We have a number of tools to help inform what constitutes a healthy portion size, for example the Front of Pack nutrition labelling scheme, the eatwell plate and the Change4Life programme.

*No heading*

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of patients who went to A&E after being unable to make an appointment with their GP in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Alistair Burt: Of those patients who either were not able to get an appointment or get a convenient appointment in the last GP Patient Survey, 9.9% indicated that they went to accident and emergency or a walk-in centre (an increase of 0.5 percentage points since 2013-14).

*No heading*

Nigel Adams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the frequency of use of police detention facilities for mental health patients who pose a risk to themselves or others when mental health facilities are full or unavailable.

Alistair Burt: Our departments have worked closely to achieve a reduction of 54% in the use of police custody as a place of safety in the last three years. We intend to amend primary legislation to further reduce its use and are investing up to £15 million in 2016-17 to help achieve this.

*No heading*

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve outcomes for people with rarer cancers.

Jane Ellison: Health is, of course, a devolved matter; however, ensuring the National Health Service is able to support the use of effective treatments for rare cancers, is a key priority. The four United Kingdom health departments and Cancer Research UK are jointly funding a network of 18 Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres. These are driving the development and testing of new anti-cancer treatments to deliver real benefits for patients, including those with rare cancers.In England, the Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July 2015, and made many recommendations relevant to rarer and blood cancers, focussing on improving access to diagnostic testing, and increasing patient access to the most advanced treatments.